I Will Be Me
by musicofthenight32
Summary: Sequel to 'When Dreams Come True' Ashley Tisdale is now embarking on her first ever tour! Follow the cast as they travel across the country with new crushes, dogs and a lot of caffiene! A luley story. Chap 10 up! on hiatus, sorry
1. Chapter 1

When we last left off, High School Musical had only just exploded onto the scene. A year after the filming was finished, the entire cast had gone from little known Disney performers to stars of their own caliber.

Zac, Vanessa, Ashley, Lucas, Corbin and Monique had flown around the world, premiering their 90 some-odd minute movie. They had visited Australia, where Vanessa was beat up by a kangaroo; they toured London on a personalized double-decker bus;

Monique starred on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars' and had come in fourth place. Zac had been cast in the remake of the hit musical 'Hairspray;' Vanessa had come out with her debut album titled 'V;' Ashley had announced her own album which would come out later on in the year;

Corbin was cast in a new DCOM called 'Jump In;' And after filming 'Return to Halloweentown' over the summer, Lucas shaved off all of his hair after growing it out for 6 months so he could play the role of Young Lex Luther on 'Smallville.' And now the latest escapade for these young people was about to begin…

**IWBM **

"A tour?!" Ashley exclaimed, throwing herself into the car and gaping at Lucas. "That's what Kenny told me," Lucas shrugged and started the car.

"What is it, like the stage production?" She asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I honestly have no idea," He replied, "I'm sure we're going to find out now." He pulled into the parking lot of the studio and jumped out of the car, wincing as he put weight on his knee.

Ashley came around the other side of car and furrowed her brow, "Are you alright?" She asked concernedly.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine!" He started walking into the studio, cringing with every step. Ashley shrugged and followed after him.

"A tour?!" Vanessa gasped, staring at Corbin dubiously. Corbin nodded and grinned, "Hey, you get to live with me for the next two months!"

Vanessa pretended to scream, "No! I refuse!"

Corbin feigned hurt, "Fine, be that way! I thought you were my friend!" He pretended to sob and Vanessa laughed out loud and hugged him, "You rock!"

"Thank you, thank you very much!" He pointed at her and did a little head nod.

Monique rolled her eyes at them as she walked by, "You guys are so weird!"

"But you love us!" They responded simultaneously.

"That's questionable," She grinned evilly at them while they pouted and threw their arms around her.

Ashley and Lucas walked in before Monique could respond. The three girls screamed and ran into each other, jumping up and down and squealing. Lucas and Corbin shook their heads and laughed at them then began talking about the tour.

Drew walked in and Monique stopped jumping and smiled secretively at him, "Hi…" She blushed a little. Drew grinned at her and crossed the room, sweeping her into his arms, "Hello there…" He murmured then kissed her softly.

Vanessa and Ashley 'awed' and that caused the kissing couple to break it up.

"What are you doing here?" Monique asked excitedly.

"I don't really know," Drew laughed, "Kenny called me up and invited me to the meeting."

"Where's Zac?" Ashley asked Vanessa, looking around the room for the now black-haired boy.

"Oh, he's filming and stuff for 'Hairspray,'" Vanessa rolled her eyes, "I never see him anymore!" She pouted a little.

"I'm sure once he's done you'll see him all the time," Ashley comforted.

Just then, Kenny walked in followed by Chucky and a young man with light brown hair.

"Kenny!" The girls shouted and launched themselves at him. He laughed and hugged them all, "Hello girls!" He shouted back. The guys too went over and greeted Kenny happily.

"Ah, now that we're all together, let's sit down and chat!" Kenny went to the head of the table while the others assumed their seats and looked at him expectantly. "As you all know, we have been invited to do a tour promoting 'High School Musical,'" He began and everyone nodded, "What you don't know is the height of this tour. It is not just going to be the usual you guys running around singing the songs and doing the same dances for a few cities. No, this tour is going national! We will be hitting 42 cities in the next two months and we will be traveling all over the county!" Kenny informed them, grinning.

The cast began whooping and cheering.

"That's amazing!"

"Oh my gosh!"

"When do we begin?!"

They all overlapped each other. Kenny held up his hands and they all quieted down.

"I know, I know. We begin at the end of November!"

"Wow…" Ashley murmured, smiling and spinning around in her seat.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Lucas asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Here's the next part of the surprise! So, Vanessa has an awesome album out, Ashley's working on her album and I'm sure it will be amazing and Corbin has just announced his upcoming album. I've decided, to spice things up, we should allow them to showcase their hard work and allow them to perform a few songs off of their albums!"

Ashley and Vanessa screamed and threw themselves at Kenny again. Corbin jumped out of his seat and did a victory dance.

After they had settled down (again), Kenny cleared his throat, "As we all know, Zac is working hard on his upcoming movie and he doesn't actually sing in the movie so I am extending this invitation to Drew! Drew, would you like to your nationally with us and become a member of the HSM family?" Kenny asked, turning towards the cute boy.

"Are you serious?!" Drew's eyes went wide. Kenny simply nodded and smiled at him. "Are you kidding?! It would be an honor!" He half-yelled then grabbed Monique out of her seat and spun her around.

She screamed and clung to him then he put her back down and sat in his seat again.

"But what about the people who don't have albums?" Vanessa asked over all the celebrating.

"Ah, thank you Miss Nessa, that was my next point. Monique," He addressed, turning towards her, "Would you like to show off your amazing ballroom skills?" He asked.

Monique stared at him, "Well, yes! But how?"

Kenny gestured for the brown haired boy to step forward, "This is Jared Murillo. He was in the movie as a basketball dancer and he also happens to be a national ballroom champion!" Everyone looked impressed while Jared blushed and looked around the room awkwardly.

"He will be one of our backup dancers and assisting with choreography and I've asked him if he would dance with you!"

"Oh my Lord!" Monique exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth, "That's amazing! But what will we dance to?"

"Wow, you guys are really aiding my speech!" Kenny laughed, "Drew, since you don't have an album coming out, would you like to perform your song 'Dance with Me' from Cheetah Girls 2?" Kenny asked.

"Uh, yeah, thank you!" Drew laughed.

"Alright! Then Monique, you and Jared will be dancing to that!" Monique laughed and grinned at Jared, who smiled shyly back at her.

"So what's Lucas going to do?" Ashley asked, looking from Lucas to Kenny.

"Don't you worry, Ashley, Lucas has a very important part in this!" He reassured her.

Lucas grinned, "This is the part where they say I'm the one who's going to pull the curtains or something," He whispered to Ashley. Ashley burst out laughing and hit him on the arm, "That's terrible!"

"But true!" He replied.

Kenny cleared his throat and they fell silent. "Lucas, how would you like to be the emcee of our show?" Kenny watched him closely.

Lucas' mouth dropped open.

"You seem to be the most qualified for the job and I think you're talented enough to string everything together," Kenny added.

Lucas grinned, "I'd love that! Thank you so much!" Ashley squealed and grabbed his hand. Lucas smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

"So, first things first, we have to pick out song for our showcases to perform. We have our dancers in place, they should be arriving tomorrow and rehearsals start next week. I want to have everything in place before we start the choreography! Ashley, Vanessa and Corbin, you will be meeting with either me, Chucky or Jared to decide on your songs. We can do that tomorrow and we're working on the order of the show so have a nice night guys, see you bright and early!" Kenny nodded at all of them then turned and left the room.

Chucky grinned at all of them, "Lucky us!" He joked, referring to the 'bright and early' then ducked out of the room. Jared shrugged at them and waved, following after them.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, the cast jumped to their feet and began dancing around. Corbin pulled Ashley up onto the table and began doing overly dramatic ballroom moves with her.

Lucas grabbed Vanessa and they began spinning around each other. Drew and Monique started crumping together.

"We're breaking free!" Vanessa yelled, spinning away from Lucas and slamming into Drew.

Drew caught her and spun her around some more, "Get'cha head in the game!" He shouted back, picking up Monique.

"Stick to the status quo!" She laughed.

"We're all in this together!" Corbin chimed up, jumping off the table and holding out his arms to Ashley.

Ashley leapt of the table and he caught her, "We're popping like a mop!" She tried.

Everyone stared at her then Lucas added, "I can't take my eyes off of you!"

"We're all in this together!" They all shouted in unison then collapsed in a heap on the floor, ready to start the next portion of their journey.

**Hello again! Welcome to the sequel of When Dreams Come True! This is the prologue! I'm so excited to be writing this story again! Hopefully this one does as well as the first one but I never hold expectations! Send in your feedback so I know what you think of this! It's been awhile since I've visited these characters so forgive me if I'm a little rusty! Thank you! XOXO**


	2. Chapter 2

After a sleepless night during which the three girls of HSM caught up on everything from their careers to their new shampoos, the six stars found themselves stifling yawns in the same meeting room they'd been dancing in not even 24 hours before. Kenny flew in with a flurry of papers a few moments later, greeting all of them jovially. They all replied with mumbled hellos.

"Oh, come on! That was hardly a justifiable 'good morning!' Now, hello everyone!" Kenny called to them.

They all perked up a little, "Good morning, Kenny!" they shouted back.

Kenny clapped for them, "Much, much better!" He approved, "Now then, let's get down to business!"

"To defeat the Huns…" Corbin sang under his breath, quoting the Mulan song. "Did he send me daughters, when I asked for sons?" Lucas joined in. "You're the saddest bunch I've ever met but you can bet before we're through," Drew added on. "Mister, I'll make a man outta you!" The girls sang out.

Kenny was staring at them, looking highly amused, "Is this Mulan or High School Musical?" He asked once they stopped laughing. This, of course, sent them over the edge again and it took quite awhile for Kenny to calm them back down.

"Alright, alright, enough of that! We have a lot of things to do between now and when we start rehearsing on Monday; today is Wednesday. A lot of things will be going on between now and then so I want us to focus on getting all this technical junk out of the way! So, Chucky can meet with Ashley, Jared can meet with Vanessa and I'll meet with Corbin so the showcase songs can be chosen. Meanwhile, Lucas, Monique and Drew are going to meet with some of our advisors and are going to help work on the concert order!" Kenny clapped his hands and they all dispersed.

"Lucas, may I have a word with you?" Kenny called. Lucas, who had been talking with Ashley and Vanessa, paused and walked back over to Kenny. Vanessa and Ashley shrugged then walked out of the room with everyone else.

Kenny clapped an arm on Lucas' back, "So, Lucas, how ya doin?" He asked conversationally.

"Fabulous and yourself?" He replied easily. "Fantastic!" He exclaimed and Lucas laughed at his energy. "Okay, what I called you back for was is your knee going to be okay?" The director flicked his eyes to Lucas' knee and back.

Lucas also looked at his knee, "Yeah, I'm getting it fixed tomorrow night so that gives me a few days to recover from it. It's not a big deal," The blonde dancer shrugged.

"Are you sure? I can give you more time off because what's important is that your knee gets better. This isn't just about the tour; this is about your career!"

Lucas nodded, "The doctors said it's not a big deal and that I could get back to work after a few days."

Kenny contemplated this, "Okay, here's what we're going to do: You'll go tomorrow, stay off of your leg completely until Monday then you come to rehearsal and you sing with us and watch the rehearsal but you do not get to dance at least until the end of next week!" Kenny instructed almost sternly.

Lucas toyed with protesting but gave up and nodded, "Okay, that sounds reasonable," He agreed.

Kenny grinned, "Excellent! Okay, off you go to the other meeting room!" Then clapped him on the back again and went off to find Corbin.

Lucas shrugged and limped slightly out of the room. Ashley was leaning against the door, waiting for him.

"Hey!" She greeted, sliding her arm through his, "What was that all about?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Oh, just some technical things," Lucas replied easily, feeling bad about lying to her but not wanting to worry her.

"Ashley Tisdale get your butt over here!" Chucky yelled from one of the mini studio rooms.

Ashley groaned, "Coming!" She called over her shoulder but made no move towards the room.

Lucas rolled his eyes at her, "Now Ashley, thou shalt not leave thy choreographer waiting!" He scolded.

Ashley stuck her tongue out at him then laughed and kissed his cheek before skipping over to Chucky.

Lucas shook his head at her antics and walked towards the other meeting room where Monique and Drew were waiting for him.

**IWBM**

"So, you're a professional dancer?" Vanessa asked awkwardly, shifting slightly on the medicine ball she was sitting on.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Jared replied embarrassedly, "I've been dancing pretty much since I could walk and I won the Youth Latin Ballroom Champion title with my partner, Lacey."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Vanessa marveled.

Jared blushed, "It's not that big a deal…" He mumbled, looking down at his clipboard, "Okay, so you have your album out and Kenny wants three songs for you to perform during the concert…I think he wants one ballad and two faster beats but I'm not exactly sure…"

Vanessa nodded, "So am I picking from my whole album?" She asked, thinking hard.

"Kenny has a list of songs here so I'll let you look them over and pick your favorites," The shy boy handed her the clipboard, which she took and scanned the list.

She twirled a long, dark lock around her finger as she considered the list of songs in front of her, "Well, since it's my first single and I love the song, 'Come Back to Me' is a given," She murmured, putting a check next to the song then twirling her hair some more. "Hmmm… 'Let's Dance' or 'Let Go?'" She asked, bringing her amber eyes up to his.

Jared chewed his lips contemplatively, "'Let's Dance.' It's faster and more fun," He decided slowly. Vanessa nodded and put another check on the paper.

"Now a slow song…" She muttered, "Ack, I can't choose! 'Say Ok, Drive or Whatever Will Be?'"

"I, uh, haven't heard 'Whatever Will Be' so let's take that one out for now," Jared thought some more, "Sing the chorus of both to make it easier," He told her.

Vanessa blushed and cleared her throat, "I'm not warmed up at all but okay…" She cleared her throat again, "So tell me when it's not alright, when it's not okay, will you try to make me feel better? Will you say alright? Will you say ok? Will you stick with me through whatever or run away?" She sang softly, blushing harder.

Jared smiled, "That's really pretty," He complimented quietly.

Vanessa stared at the ground and giggled, "Thanks…"

"Drive?" He asked, referring to the next song.

"Oh right! I've hit the highway and I'm not coming home, I'm gonna drive. I'll do it my way; I'll call you on the phone when I arrive. Soul, I've got it, I'm not gonna stop for no one in my way as long as I'm alive, I'm gonna drive…" She sang a bit more confident.

"Hmm…That's really nice too!" He exclaimed, running his fingers through his already tousled hair, "Although 'Drive' goes more with the concert…I think 'Say Ok' is a better choice…" He thought out loud.

Vanessa considered for a few more minutes, "Yeah, good point!" She agreed and checked off her final song.

"Well, that was painless!" She laughed, handing him the clipboard and getting off the ball. Jared stood up as well, "Yeah, it could've been a lot worse!"

He grinned at her then led her to the room where Lucas, Drew and Monique were.

**IWBM**

"Absolutely not!" Kenny half-yelled, getting exasperated with Corbin, "You may not go on stage and sing 'Too Sexy for My Shirt!'"

Corbin pouted comically, "But-but!"

"Not 'buts,' the song is inappropriate and it's not even off your album so drop it!"

Corbin sighed heavily, "Fine, be that way…" He muttered dejectedly.

"Okay, so obviously you're going to do 'Push It to the Limit,' but what else do you want to do?" Kenny asked, tapping his pen on the paper.

"Uh…" Corbin thought out loud, "I don't have many songs done yet…"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. You have four songs done, right?" Corbin nodded.

"Okay, so you can do 'Push It to the Limit' and one other song," Kenny decided, marking something down on his clipboard.

"Aw, okay…" Corbin thought some more, "'Deal with It' or 'Marching?'" Corbin thought out loud again.

"I don't know, Corbin, it's up to you…" Kenny said tiredly, running his hand down his face.

"Ooo! I have an idea!" Corbin exclaimed, "And I can keep my shirt on doing it!"

"The world is at peace, you don't have to take your shirt off!" Kenny mocked sarcastically, "What's your idea?"

"I'll flip a coin!" Corbin pulled a nickel out of his pocket and flipped it in the air, watching it spin around…then land on his eye, "Ow!" He howled, dropping his head so it landed in his hand then clutching his eye, "What's it say?" He groaned to Kenny.

Kenny rolled his eyes and grabbed the young man's hand so he could look at the coin. "Heads."

"Uh…That was…uh…Skiz, I forgot!" Corbin and Kenny groaned at Corbin's stupidity, "I guess we have to do it again!" Corbin laughed but Kenny grabbed the coin.

"Tails is Marching!" He called as he flipped it and caught it easily.

"So?" Corbin asked excitedly.

"Tails!" Kenny cheered.

"'Marching!'" Corbin cheered louder and started dancing around while singing the song.

"Thank the Lord, we're done!" Kenny yelled, getting up and dragging Corbin out of the room with him.

"Hey, that was mean…" Corbin protested as he was pulled out of the studio.

**IWBM**

"So you want to do 'Headstrong?'" Chucky double checked, grabbing Ashley's ankle so she would stop spinning around on her chair.

"Duh, Chucky!" She rolled her eyes, "It's only my title song!"

"Okay, okay, just making sure!" He defended, sticking his tongue out at her. Ashley crossed her eyes at him and he pretended to whack her in the head so she screamed and ducked.

Chucky shook his head and laughed, "Okay, what else?" He asked, calling her back to reality.

"Uh… 'He Said, She Said?'" She offered, "I love that song!"

"Ashley, your lyrics are 'Baby, I could see I was touchin like that; Baby, I could see us kissing like that.' And 'One night with you, boy just one night with you! All the things we could do, everyday I think of one day with you…'" He sang in a really high pitched, off-key voice.

"Okay, first of all, I don't sound like that! And second of all, I have another version of the song with clean lyrics!" She pointed out.

Chucky sighed, "I don't know, it's kind of iffy to me…" Ashley pulled out her iPod and made him listen to the clean version.

"Okay, okay, we'll mark it down for now!" He relented. Ashley grinned sweetly at him and spun around again.

"Hey, princess, we still need your ballad!" He teased.

"Well, _peasant_, I have two: 'Unlove You' or 'We'll Be Together!'"

"Hmmmm…Both sound fine to me…Which do you like better?"

"I love 'Unlove You' but the vocals are crazazy on them so let's just be simple and go with 'We'll Be Together!'" She decided.

"Awesome!" Chucky checked it off, "So, we're done! Let's go check on everyone else!"

Ashley giggled and skipped at of the room with Chucky walking behind her.

**IWBM**

During all of the debates and singing, Monique, Drew and Lucas had been in their own debate: deciding the order of the concert!

"So what do we have so far again?" Drew asked. Monique glanced at the paper she'd been doodling on, "Start of Something New," She read back.

"That's all we have!" Lucas half-yelled, throwing his head back onto the back of his seat.

"We can't agree on anything!" Monique groaned, dropping her head onto the table. Just then, Jared and Vanessa walked in.

"Hey guys!" Vanessa greeted brightly, sitting down next to Monique.

"Hi…" The trio mumbled. Jared sat down next to Lucas, "Did you guys make any progress?" He asked, sliding the paper over and snorting, "Apparently not…"

Monique shot him a glare, "Fine, you come up with the order!"

Jared rolled his eyes, "Start of Something New…" He thought for awhile and everyone thought he'd given up, "Status Quo…"

They all stared at him and he broke off.

"What?" He asked, blushing again.

"Why didn't we think of that?!" Drew exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

Lucas grinned at Jared and they did the 'pound it' thing, "Good call, man!" Monique smiled at him, "Continue, please…" She batted her eyelashes at Jared.

Before Jared could respond, Corbin came in followed by Kenny and they both sat down at the table as well.

"How are we doing?" Kenny asked excitedly, picking up the paper then blinking at it and dropping it again.

"Jared just made some progress though!" Vanessa jumped in before Kenny could say anything.

"Oh really?" Kenny raised his eyebrows and turned to Jared, "Speak, child," He instructed kindly.

"Start of Something New then Status Quo…" Jared mumbled.

"Ah! That kills off to big numbers nice and early!" Kenny approved, "Now what?" He asked, looking at all of them.

"Uh…Showcase?" Vanessa tried.

"We have 10 numbers for the actual movie to find places for!" Kenny pointed out.

"10?!" Lucas, Drew, Vanessa and Monique demanded simultaneously.

"Start of Something New, Get'cha Head in the Game, What I've Been Looking For, both versions, Status Quo, When There was Me and You, Bop to the Top, Breaking Free, We're All in this Together and I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," Kenny ticked off, "That adds up to 10!"

"We're including I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"Yes…" Kenny nodded at her.

"Then that should be next!" Lucas nodded to the paper.

"Ha! There's another group number to knock off!" Kenny cheered.

Ashley and Chucky stumbled in, "Hey guys!" Ashley greeted, pulling up a chair.

Chucky sat down next to Kenny and grabbed the paper, "Three songs are all you came up with?" He asked incredulously.

"It's a work in progress!" Drew informed him weakly.

"Riiight…" Chucky snorted at them.

"What do we have?" Ashley asked, snatching the paper from Chucky, "Ooo! We're doing I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You?!" Ashley squealed, "I love that song!"

Lucas fluttered himself, "Me too!" He squealed, mocking Ashley.

Ashley squealed back and started jumping up and down, "Sister!" She exclaimed. Lucas stared at her and broke off laughing.

"What time is it?" Monique asked randomly into the silence. "Uh…" Everyone mumbled, looking for a watch or clock.

"11:54," Jared rolled back down the sleeves of his sweatshirt.

"Thank you!" Monique smiled at him again and he smiled back then dropped his gaze back to the table.

"Okay, guys, let's take a break then we can work on the order after lunch. Meet back here around 1, sound good?" Kenny asked.

Everyone nodded and thanked him then walked outside into the sunshine.

During lunch, they were joined by Lucas' best friend, Marc Blackwell, a professional photographer.

"So Marc, whatever will you do without your bestest friend for the next two months?" Ashley teased, sitting down next to him.

"I, uh, don't think Lucas wants to see much of me after last week," He replied, winking at her jokingly.

Lucas kicked him under the table hard while Ashley's eyes turned confused, "Why? What about last week?" She asked, looking from Marc to Lucas and back and forth.

"Ow! What did ya kick me for?!" Marc demanded, rubbing his leg and wincing.

"Lucas, what's going on?" Ashley asked quietly, staring at him.

Lucas shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Well, uh, last week…I was playing some touch football with Marc and Michael (Lucas' other best friend, if you didn't know) and I got tackled and during my, um, attack, I wrenched my knee the wrong way…" He glared at Marc for making him bring this up.

Ashley nodded, absorbing this, "So…" Ashley prodded.

"So…My knees kinda screwed up right now…So, tomorrow, I'm going to have knee surgery…" He finally admitted, staring at his lap.

**Ooo, scandalous! Haha, wow, AWESOME response! I know, the timeline is probably totally off but this is half-fiction here so we can pretend it's right! Thank you so, so, so much for the feedback, I love receiving it! Any ideas or suggestions? Send them in! I appreciate it all and I can't wait to update again! XOXO**


	3. Chapter 3

"_So…My knees kinda screwed up right now…So, tomorrow, I'm going to have knee surgery…" He finally admitted, staring at his lap. _

"What?" Ashley gasped, gaping at Lucas, "You're having _what_?!" The whole table went silent and Lucas chewed at his lip. "Knee surgery," He repeated, "I'm having _minor_ knee surgery tomorrow."

Ashley shook her head at him, "Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered, looking very hurt. Monique cleared her throat awkwardly; Drew glanced around the room, looking for distraction; Vanessa fiddled with her napkin; Corbin mashed his silverware together, having a mock sword fight with himself; Marc shifted uncomfortably and pulled out his camera, scrolling through his pictures.

Lucas took a deep breath, "I was going to, and really I was!" He reassured her earnestly, "I just couldn't figure out a good time to!"

"How about all the times we were on the phone together last week?! Or when you picked me up yesterday?! Or this morning?!" Ashley demanded, moving past hurt to pissed off.

Lucas opened his mouth to speak but closed it again then ducked his head, "I didn't want to worry you…" He mumbled.

Ashley squeezed her eyes shut and pushed back from the table, throwing down her napkin, "Fine, I'm going out, _don't worry about me!"_ Then ran out of the restaurant.

"Thanks a lot, man!" Lucas muttered to Marc then pushed back as well and limped after Ashley. She was walking quickly along the sidewalk, bumping into people but not responding to them. Lucas didn't want to call attention to them so he started running, ignoring the pain in his knee and grabbed her arm, "Ashley!" He spun her around.

"Let go of me!" She demanded with clenched teeth.

"Ash, can we at least talk?" He asked quietly then dragged her into Starbucks and sat her down at a secluded table.

"Fine, talk!" She ordered.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I screwed up! It's really not that big a deal!" Ashley's eyes widened, "Not this! The surgery! It's minor! They're just going to straighten it all out and make it so I can dance!"

Ashley shook her head angrily and dropped her head. Lucas reached across the table and lifted her chin with his fingers, "Ashley," He murmured, "I'm sorry…"

Ashley stayed silent for awhile then brushed her bangs out of her eyes, "No, I'm sorry," She took his hands in her own and squeezed them.

Lucas smiled at her and enveloped her in his arms and Ashley rested her head on his shoulder before pulling back and kissing him softly.

"We're in public," He murmured against her lips. "Skiz…" Ashley pulled back and giggled, glancing around subtly to see if anyone was watching.

Thankfully, no one paid attention to the two blondes so they stood up and went back to the restaurant. The rest of the cast was milling around outside the establishment, waiting for them.

"Did you kiss and make up?" Corbin teased as they ambled up to them, Lucas leaning a bit on Ashley for support.

"You could say that," Lucas replied, winking at Ashley, who giggled and shoved him lightly.

"Sorry man, I thought you told her already," Marc apologized, walking over to them.

"Eh, no problem," Lucas shrugged, "But watch yourself next time!" He muttered so Ashley wouldn't hear them.

"Okay, kids, here's our car!" Monique laughed, pointing to the black suburban that pulled up onto the curb. Larry, the security guard, jumped out and opened the doors for them and the seven piled in, a bit of a tight squeeze but they didn't mind.

They spent the rest of the day in the meeting room and finally, with lots of help from the producers of the show, got the order of the concert copied down. Kenny dismissed them, wishing Lucas good luck and telling the rest of them he will see them tomorrow.

"So what time do you need to be at the hospital tomorrow?" Ashley asked Lucas. The two were walking down to the lobby to meet the pizza guy in the lobby of their hotel.

"Uh, around 11 tomorrow morning, I think."

"You think?!"

"Okay, I know."

"Good! I was going to say…" Ashley shook her head and smiled at the pizza guy.

"Hey, aren't you that chick from that Disney movie?" He asked dumbly, staring at her while Lucas pulled out his money.

Ashley took the boxes from him, "No, I'm her stunt double," She retorted then grabbed Lucas and dragged him away. The pizza guy stood there, staring after them with his mouth open for a few minutes until the manager of the hotel kicked him out.

"You're her stunt double?!" Lucas laughed as they got off the elevator on their floor. "Oh shut up! It was the first thing that came to mind!" She defended, leaning against the wall next to the girl's room while Lucas opened the door.

"I can't believe he bought that," Lucas shook his head and let Ashley go in front of him into the room. Everyone was sprawled on the floor of the living room, watching RENT.

"Hey guys, foods here!" Ashley called over the 'Tango: Maureen.' Corbin jumped up, ripped a box out of Ashley's hands then sat on the ground and devoured two pieces in no time.

"Ew, Corbin, chew!" Vanessa blanched and grabbed a piece of pizza from his box. Corbin glared at her and wrapped his arms protectively around the box.

"He's a growing boy, he needs his pizza!" Drew said in a fake old man voice, evading Corbin's protesting hands and stealing a slice as well. Monique sat on Corbin's back and got herself some pizza then went back over to where she'd been sitting before; between Drew's legs, leaning against his torso for support.

Marc snorted and grabbed two slices as well then sitting back down on his spot on the floor. Lucas and Ashley looked at each other and shook their heads then grabbed their own pizza and curled up to watch the movie.

They spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and singing along to their favorite songs. Vanessa and Ashley performed a hilarious rendition of 'Take Me or Leave Me,' Lucas and Drew sang 'What You Own' and danced around the room, Corbin sang 'I'll Cover You (reprise)' and Marc filmed all of them singing the finale.

It got to be very late so the boys went back to their room and the girls turned in, getting ready for another fun filled day.

Monique woke Ashley and Vanessa up around 9 so they could eat and shower then drive Lucas to the hospital. After shower and eating, the three girls went over to the boy's room. Drew answered in a towel with his hair dripping, looking rather disheveled.

Monique, Vanessa and Ashley wiggled their eyebrows at each other and followed him into the room.

"You're a little wet," Ashley commented bemusedly.

"We over slept!" Drew explained, going into his room to get dressed.

Corbin stumbled past them into the bathroom in a pair of boxers and a ratty t-shirt, mumbling 'good morning.' Marc was sitting in the kitchen area, sipping coffee, dressed and ready.

Lucas came out of his room in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, carrying a small duffle bag and perching his sunglasses on his head so he could slip them on later. Lucas walked over to Ashley and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her good morning. Ashley deepened the kiss and they stayed like that until Vanessa slammed into the wall while trying to answer her cell phone.

"Smooth move, V," Ashley panted slightly. Lucas grinned and let go of Ashley so he could help the brunette girl up.

Vanessa smiled at Lucas and rolled her eyes at Ashley while flipping open her phone, "Ello?" She asked a little dazedly, "Oh, hi…" She giggled and smiled secretly.

Monique and Ashley looked at each other and mouthed 'Zac.'

Drew came out with his teeth brushed and hair combed, wearing a pair of shorts and a sweat shirt. He grabbed Monique and spun around with her then kissed her forehead, "There, I'm actually ready for you now!" He laughed.

Monique giggled and kissed his cheek, "Personally, I didn't mind your previous look!"

"Oh really?" Drew wiggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled again then they started kissing.

Ashley blanched at the cutesy-ness and turned away only to bump into Corbin, who finally came out of the bathroom with his hair looking like a dripping mop. "Nice hair style, I hear that look is in now," She commented.

Corbin stuck his tongue out at her then shook his head so water sprayed all over her. Ashley shrieked and smacked him in the stomach. "Ow!" Corbin howled, reaching over and tickling Ashley. Ashley screamed in laughter and tried to fight Corbin off.

Finally, Monique and Lucas jumped forward and pulled them away from each other. "Don't make me give you a time out!" Monique scolded, her arms wrapped around Corbin's middle. "Aw, Mo!" Corbin pouted.

"Thank you!" Ashley panted to Lucas. "Yup!" He grinned at her.

Marc stepped into the room, "Uh, guys? We should get going unless we want the hospital people to yell at Lucas." Drew and Monique herded them down to Larry's car.

The whole time, Vanessa was talking quietly with Zac and everything seemed to be going well until, "Oh…really?" She murmured, looking sad, "Well, okay, I understand. But I really wanted you to come…" She was silent for awhile, listening to Zac, "Yeah, alright…Bye Zac…" She whispered, turning off her phone and stuffing it into her bag.

"Everything okay?" Corbin asked worriedly while they unloaded in front of the hospital. Lucas and Larry got out of the front seats and opened the doors for everyone.

"Yeah, Zac can't come on tour with us at all," Vanessa shrugged sadly.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Ness!" Drew put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Vanessa sighed and jumped out of the car, followed by Drew and Corbin. Ashley and Monique and Marc jumped out the other side.

The eight walked into the hospital, wearing sunglasses, hats and baggy clothing to hide their identities. Lucas went up to the receptionist and signed in then they all sat in the waiting room until Lucas was called into an examination room.

When the other people waiting heard 'Lucas Grabeel' being called, they all looked around excitedly. The seven waiting, ducked their heads and pretty much went unnoticed.

At almost 1, Lucas was heading into pre-op so they all went in to wish him well before he left. Drew and Corbin clapped him on the back, "See you later, man!"

Vanessa and Monique hugged him, "Don't go into the light!" They teased.

Marc gave him a 'manly hug,' "Make sure they don't accidentally steal your organs or something!" He warned. Larry nodded at Lucas and shook his hand then pretended to cry, "It was an honor saving your life!"

Finally, Ashley went in and threw herself into his arms, "Seriously, don't go into the light!" She murmured in his ear. "I won't, I swear," He vowed, kissing her hair.

Ashley held his hand until they got to the elevator that would take him to the pre-op room and kissed his hand and waved goodbye, ignoring the tears in her eyes.

Monique came up and wrapped her arms around Ashley, "He'll be okay," She comforted, leading Ashley down the stairs to the waiting room.

"Yeah, I know but still…"

"Come on, we're gonna go shopping and get coffee!"

Ashley perked up a little, "Awesome!"

And so, the remaining cast members plus Marc wandered around the city and bought Lucas some presents. They also bought some supplies for the tour such as extra shampoo and conditioner, body wash, more clothes, and a frappuchino machine.

"Is that really necessary?" Monique asked, watching Ashley and Vanessa lug the machine into the bag of the car.

"Yes!" They both shouted over their shoulders. Monique sighed and shook her head at the boys.

At around 7, they called the hospital to see how Lucas was but they said he was still in surgery and to call back in the morning. So, the boys went to their room early to watch some odd sport or another and the girls painted their nails and gave each other facials to relax Ashley.

At 6 the next morning, Monique heard a loud crash and vaulted out of bed and into the room it had come from. Ashley was tangled in the cord from the hotel room and her blankets and was upside down on the ground.

Monique closed her eyes and took a deep breath for patience then ran inside and helped Ashley back into bed, "What are you doing?!" She hissed, "It's barely 6 AM!"

Ashley shushed her as the hospital finally picked up, "Hello, I was hoping someone could tell me how Lucas Grabeel is doing…Yes, I'll hold…I'm his girlfriend…No, really, I am…Please, is he at least alive?" The lady hung up on her and Ashley threw the phone against the wall, "How rude!" She yelled at it.

"Ashley, shut up! It's too early to shout!" Monique scolded, "So, I take it they didn't believe you?"

"It's ridiculous!" Ashley humphed, crossing her arms.

"Okay, how about we go back to bed for a few hours then we can go to the hospital and check on him?" Monique suggested tiredly.

"Okay, fine…" Ashley grumbled. Monique went back to bed and fell asleep immediately whereas Ashley stumbled around, wrapping the presents for Lucas while she waited for the others to get up.

Finally, around 8, Monique got up and took a shower then got Vanessa up. When the two actresses came into the main room, Ashley was sitting fully dressed at the counter with the presents piled in front of her, "Ready?" She asked them, pulling on her shoes.

Vanessa and Monique decided not to argue with her and followed her out the door. They decided not to wait for the boys and went straight to the hospital, stopping only for coffee at Starbucks next to the building.

Ashley ran inside to the receptionist desk, "Hello, I'm Ashley Tisdale and I was wondering if you could tell me where Lucas Grabeel is? He was admitted last night for surgery and I called this morning and the lady was rude to me and hung up on me!"

The woman's eyes widened, "Oh my Gosh! It was you I was talking to?!" She gasped.

"_You're_ the rude lady?!" Ashley laughed at her.

"I am so sorry Miss Tisdale! I-I had no idea!"

"Please, could you just tell me where Lucas is?" Ashley begged.

"Right away, Miss Tisdale!" The woman stammered and typed into her computer, "He's out of surgery and in recovery. You can go see him, here; let me take you to his room!" She quickly led them to Lucas' room then let them inside.

Lucas was, obviously, still asleep so the three crept in and sat around his bed.

"Is he dead?"

"Vanessa, look at the machine! It's still beeping!"

"Sor-ry, I wasn't sure!"

"Should we wake him up?"

"Ashley, don't touch him!"

"He's my boyfriend!"

"He's recovering!"

"Hey what's this button do?!"

"Vanessa, get away from there!"

"Why?"

"It could kill him!"

"Vanessa, get away from there!"

"Sorry, Ash, I didn't mean to almost kill your boyfriend."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Okay, I'll try…"

"Good morning, ladies."

"Hey that sounds like LUCAS!" Ashley screamed, throwing her arms around Lucas' neck.

"HE'S NOT DEAD!" Vanessa shouted, throwing her arms around Lucas as well.

"OH MY LORD, LET HIM GO!" Monique yelled, swatting at them.

"Its okay, Mo, I don't mind!" Lucas laughed, rubbing both girls backs. "How was it?"

"Not that bad, I didn't feel anything."

"How do you feel now?"

"Great, I have two beautiful girls wrapped around me! I should have knee surgery more often...Ow! What'd you hit me for?!"

The three girls giggled. "Ooh! We brought gifts!" Ashley squealed, dumping the presents onto Lucas.

"Ow, gee thanks, Ash!" Lucas winced. "Ooh!! Sorry!" "It's alright, thank you for the gifts, you guys shouldn't have!" He started opening the poorly wrapped parcels, "God, who wrapped these?"

"I did!" Ashley squealed.

"Clearly, you weren't one of Santa's elves in your past life…" He muttered, ripping at the tape.

"Hey, that was mean!"

"But true!" Ashley stuck her tongue out at Lucas, "Just open the dang gifts!"

"I am!" The first one was a plaid newsboy's cap which Lucas popped onto his head, "How do I look?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Very shmexy!" Vanessa commented. They all laughed as he opened up two more hats, a wrist band and finally a pair of Aviators.

"Oh wow! Thank you guys! You all rock!" Lucas hugged the three of them.

"The boys have stuff too but _someone_," Monique glared at Ashley, "Couldn't wait for them this morning."

"I don't blame her, they take forever!" Lucas rolled his eyes.

A young doctor came in, "Good morning, Mr. Grabeel, how do you feel today?" He asked, nodding at the girls then going over to Lucas and lifting the blankets so he could get to his knee.

"Great!" Lucas laughed, "It doesn't hurt all that much!"

"That's because the pain medicine we gave you hasn't worn off yet, sadly," The doctor said apologetically, "The good news is we think we've fixed your knee and you should be okay as long as you stay off it for a week or two and don't exert too much!"

"Right," Lucas nodded, glancing meaningfully at the girls so they wouldn't say anything about the tour. "We'll give you a cane and some pain pills and you should be allowed to leave later on today! Probably late afternoon or middle to early evening but you have to stay off of it until Monday, at least. And you have to use the cane for all of next week too," The doctor instructed then smiled at them and left the room.

"What about the tour?" The girls asked at once.

"I'm still doing it, don't worry! Kenny and I figured it out! I'll rest till Monday then sit through rehearsal and sing with you guys but I won't dance until at least next Friday. That gives me a week then I can dance again and then the tour starts after that so it's all good!"

"I don't know…Maybe we should postpone the tour another month…" Monique sighed.

"Yeah, I don't see that happening," Vanessa sighed as well.

"If you hurt yourself on this tour, I'll kill you!" Ashley warned.

"Gee thanks guys!" Lucas rolled his eyes at them and laughed.

Suddenly, Corbin, Drew, Marc and Chucky stumbled in, "HE LIVES!" Corbin shouted, running over and jumping onto Lucas' bed.

**Ahhh! That was so much fun to type! Personally, I love the dialogue between the girls when Lucas was sleeping! Sorry, I'm kind of delirious (but hey, when am I not?) and everything's making me laugh! So, you guys amaze me! Thank you for the awesome feedback! Please keep it coming or I'll have no idea on how I'm doing! Thanks a million! XOXO**


	4. Chapter 4

_Suddenly, Corbin, Drew, Marc and Chucky stumbled in, "HE LIVES!" Corbin shouted, running over and jumping onto Lucas' bed. _

Ashley and Vanessa, who had been sitting like bookends on either side of Lucas, screamed at the top of their lungs as they were rocketed off the bed by the flying afro. Drew and Chucky lunged forward and half-caught the girls before they caused any damage to the hospital room while Corbin sat next to Lucas on the bed, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"I hate you!" Ashley and Vanessa yelled at the same time to Corbin. "Love ya too, baby!" Corbin winked then grabbed Lucas by the shoulders and shook him, "Dude! You're alive!"

"And I'm not deaf!" Lucas shouted back as he grabbed Corbin by the shoulders and shook him too.

"Oh…right…" Corbin laughed sheepishly and got off the bed while Marc, Drew and Chucky walked over to the bed.

"Lucas," Marc greeted, "How was the surgery?"

"I don't remember anything but apparently it went well." Lucas shrugged. "Hey man!" Chucky did the pound it thing with Lucas, "Any hot nurses?"

"Only one and she's married," Lucas sighed and Ashley cleared her throat, "Excuse me?!"

"Kidding, Ash!" Lucas replied quickly. Drew snorted, "Smooth move, Romeo!" Then gave him a one arm, manly hug, "So, they left without us!" Drew pouted at Monique.

Monique rolled her eyes, "It's not my fault! Ashley just _had_ to come see if Lucas was dead or not!"

"Hey! The mean lady at the desk wouldn't even tell me if he was alive so I had to come see for myself!"

"Ash, I had knee surgery, not a standstill operation!" Lucas laughed.

"I know! But you see I woke up at like 5 in the morning and called the hospital and got this lady and I asked if you were awake and she wouldn't tell me and then she hung up on me! She thought I was a fan girl or something! But then this morning, I went to the desk and was talking to this lady and I told her about it and she was like 'oh snap, that was me!' Then she took us to see you even though it wasn't time for visiting hours yet!" Ashley said quickly, only stopping to breath once. Lucas raised his eyebrows; not even noticing how fast she was talking while everyone else was staring at her slack jawed.

"Okay, I was there for most of that and I didn't understand that at all!" Vanessa cried after a few moments. The rest of them snickered while Lucas decided to be sympathetic to his quick tongued girlfriend, "I'm sorry to hear that. At least you got payback, though!"

Ashley nodded, "Excellent point!"

"Okay, Lucas, we should let you rest! Come on you guys, Kenny wants us at the studio in half an hour and we're going to start singing through the songs and picking things out for the showcases. He's being nice and giving you a half-day, though!" Chucky started shepherding the cast out the door.

"Bye Lucas!" They all called and Ashley ran back and kissed him quickly, "Don't you dare flirt with that nurse!" She warned then ran after everyone.

Lucas laughed at her and rolled his eyes then rested back against his pillows and after awhile, fell asleep again.

IWBM

The 5 cast members plus Chucky and Marc walked into the studio and found Kenny sitting on one of the tables, talking to Jared and Larry. "Good morning, Kenny!" They all yelled at the same time and Kenny grinned, "Now _that_ is the greeting I want to hear!" They all bowed and he laughed at their ridiculousness.

"So, first things first, how's Lucas?"

"He's good,"

"He's not dead!"

"He's recovering!"

"He's flirting with a nurse!"

"He's fixed!" They all overlapped each other and Kenny held up his hands to shush them. "So, he's alright, I take it?" They all simply nodded and he clapped his hands, "Excellent! When's he being released?"

"The doctor said later on today, possibly. I think we're going to go visit him this afternoon and we can take him back if he is," Vanessa replied before they overlapped each other again.

"Cool, okay! So, today I think we'll sing through a few songs with the band so you'll know what to expect on Monday and start picking out our effects and props for our performances! Does that sound good?"

"Yeah!" They all shouted. "Alright! Let's do it!" They all stood around the piano while the band members took up their instruments then they sang through the new version of 'Start of Something New.'

"I like that better than the movie version!" Vanessa laughed breathlessly after finishing the song. "Me too!" Drew agreed. "It's very different!" Monique commented.

"That's the point, this is our opener, and we need it big and flashy!" Kenny did jazz hands to emphasize his words. They sang through 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' and they all realized how different the song is without Lucas doing his back up vocals. "Don't worry, when he's back it will sound amazing!" Kenny comforted them.

They worked for another hour on 'We're All in this Together' then Vanessa sang 'When There was me and you' and Corbin and Drew half-sang, half-laughed through 'Get'cha Head in the Game.'

Kenny gave them a short break during which they all collapsed on the ground and sucked down a few water bottles then Kenny called them back and they began going through sheets and sheets of different effects and props they can use.

"Alright, we've already decided we're going to use sparks for the opener then for the finale," Kenny told them. Jared was called over by Kenny, "Do you have the list we made the other day?"

"For the showcase songs and the order of the show?"

Kenny nodded and Jared pulled a clipboard out of his bag and handed it to Kenny then sat down next to him. Kenny flipped through it, "Okay, let's go in order: Ashley, let's do your effects first!"

"Uh, sure!" Ashley laughed.

"'Headstrong, We'll be Together, He Said, She Said,' right?" Kenny read back and Ashley nodded. "Alrighty then! 'Headstrong' is very drum-y and rhythmic so let's go with a lot of shadows and steam…" Kenny was thinking aloud.

"Like, random bursts of steam?" Ashley asked, trying to follow him.

"That's an excellent idea! I was just going to use a steam machine but I like that a lot better! High-five, girl!" Ashley giggled and slapped hands with the exuberant director. "I guess we'll have to wait for costumes to really decide on color pallets and such…" Kenny sighed, " 'He Said, She Said' is like sugar pop so let's go with less effects and more spinning and dancing!"

"Okay!" Ashley agreed.

"Next we have Drew, Monique and Jared!" The three, who hadn't been listening, jumped when they heard their names. "Okay, how's it coming with choreography, Jared?" Kenny asked conversationally.

"Pretty well, but I really need to hear the song and work with Monique to figure it all out," Jared replied quickly.

"Fair enough, you'll start working with them on Monday, don't worry! So, this song is very fun, sort of sexual." Kenny muttered to himself.

"Thankfully, Drew has lots of sex appeal!" Monique giggled and Drew blushed and lightly shoved Monique off the table. "Hey!" She gasped, pulling herself back up and hitting him on the arm, "Hi!" He replied to bug her.

She rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him. "Okay, I think we're going to put a guitar solo or something in there so it gives Monique and Jared plenty of time to dance. So maybe when Drew is going 'Dance with me, for this moment in time, my darling just dance with me…,' Monique can walk out and then the guitar solo can start and Jared and Monique will start dancing. Drew, since in the music video you dance with the mic stand, how about you do that during the bulk of the song then we can figure out what you do while they're dancing?" Kenny suggested.

Drew thought it over, "Sounds great to me!"

"Excellent, that's the kind of attitude I like!"

"So, Bleu Man, you're next!" Corbin cheered, "Alright!" "So, 'Push It to the Limit' then 'Marching!'" Kenny double checked and Corbin nodded, "What do you think, guys?"

"Can I jump rope?" Corbin asked half-jokingly. Kenny thought for a few minutes, "That is a great idea! Okay, during 'Push It,' at some point, you're going to do jump roping."

"Kenny, Kenny, Kenny!" Vanessa shouted suddenly. Everyone jumped; they'd forgotten she was even there!

"What, what, what?!" He shouted back. "Oh my God! Can Corbin dress up like a marching band guy and parade around during 'Marching?!'" She squealed.

"Can I _what?!"_ Corbin demanded, looking a little horrorstruck.

"Ooh! Great idea!" Ashley added. "Yeah, I like the sound of that!" Monique laughed.

"Wow, Vanessa, that actually does sound like a good idea! Okay, mark this down, Jared!" Jared scribbled on his clipboard while Corbin groaned. "Aw, come on Corby, it will be fun!" Vanessa giggled evilly.

"Oh, just wait, I'm gonna get you back, V!" Corbin glared at her.

"Speaking of Vanessa, it's your turn for effects! You are 'Let's Dance, Say Ok, and Come Back to Me,' right?" Vanessa nodded and sat on the table next to Jared. "I'm thinking during 'Let's Dance' lots and lots of spinning and flashing lights. Sort of like a club or something along those lines. What do you think?"

Vanessa thought it over, "Yeah, I like that…"

"Kenny, Kenny, Kenny!" Corbin shouted, imitating Vanessa.

"What, what, what?!" Kenny yelled again. "Since Vanessa goes by 'V,' why don't we give her a giant, light up, 'V' that she can dance in front of?" Corbin yelled excitedly.

"Oh, come on, Corbin, that's so 80sish!"

"Actually, I like that idea…Since you're 'Baby V,' it would work out nicely…Write that down, Jared!" Kenny cheered. Vanessa groaned and Jared smiled at her sympathetically.

"Okay, I think we're all set for now anyway…What time is it?" Kenny asked, looking for a clock. "1:00 exactly," Jared replied, rolling the sleeves down on his shirt again.

"I think that's enough, we've been working for about 5 hours and I think we've made progress! Why don't you guys go home, rest this weekend because we start dancing on Monday!" Everyone clapped and whistled and Kenny walked them out.

"Hey guys, why don't we pick up food then go picnic with Lucas then we can see if he's being released today?" Monique suggested.

Everyone agreed and walked to the SUV. Jared started walking the other way and Vanessa paused, "Jared?" She called and he swung around, "Do you want to come with us?"

"Uh…okay!" Jared shrugged then walked with them to the truck and they picked up subs and drove to the hospital. The same lady was sitting behind the desk and as soon as she saw Ashley, she blushed and let them up to Lucas' room. Lucas was sitting up in bed, flipping through a magazine when they walked in.

"Surprise!" They all shouted and Lucas grinned. "What are you doing here?"

"We had a half day so we decided to bring you lunch!" Ashley held up one of the bags of food. Ten minutes later, they were all eating and chatting happily; Ashley was sitting next to Lucas at the head of the bed; Vanessa was curled up at their feet with Corbin, who was leaning back to back with Vanessa so they both were held up; Drew sat on one of the chairs and Monique was in his lap; Marc had stolen a wheelchair from the utility closet and was sitting in it; Jared was in the other seat in the room, talking with Marc.

The doctor walked in and started talking but broke off when he saw all of them, "Uh…hello everyone…" He chose to ignore the rules that were being broken and walked over to Lucas, "How do you feel?"

"Great!" Lucas replied easily.

"Does your knee feel okay?" "I only feel pressure, no pain."

"That's the pain medicine, it's probably wearing off a little. So, we think you can be released today, the paper work is being written up with orders to stay off your feet until Monday, prescriptions for pain medicine and we'll bring you a cane. Now, remember, no movement on that knee until at least Monday and you should not do anything more than walking!" He warned.

Lucas nodded and the doctor grinned, "Now, hopefully we don't see you back here anytime soon!"

"Bye doc!" The cast called and he waved and walked out the door. "Way to lie to him!" Monique teased.

"Oh shut up," Lucas replied good naturedly. After they were done eating, a nurse came in and had Lucas sign a few forms then while the cast gathered his gifts and the overnight bag he'd packed, she did a few tests on his knee then helped him into a wheelchair.

"Thank you, miss, we'll take him from here!" Drew gave her an award winning smile. "Oh, but it's against policy…" Corbin also gave her an award winning smile and she gave in, "But you didn't get permission from me!" Then she ducked out of the room.

Drew and Corbin high fived each other then whisked Lucas out of the room. Vanessa, Monique, Ashley, Jared and Marc chased after them.

"Woo!" Corbin whooped, whipping Lucas through the halls of the hospital.

"Corbin, you're going to kill him!" Monique shouted, sprinting after him.

"Am not!" He shouted as he spun around a corner. Suddenly, they heard a loud crash followed by a few shouts of pain.

"LUCAS!" They all hollered and ran around the corner. Corbin had run over his foot and released the wheelchair then slammed into a door that had opened. Lucas had spun around and stopped himself. Drew had tripped over Corbin and also slammed into the door.

Lucas was laughing hysterically at the fallen boys and wheeled over to give them a hand up.

"Oh my God, you idiots!" Monique gasped, clutching her side. Vanessa went over to Corbin and whacked him over the head a few times, "You could've died!" She shrieked.

Ashley was also laughing hysterically and holding onto Marc to keep from collapsing. Jared was talking to the lady that had opened the door. It turns out she was an elderly patient who had opened the door to tell whoever was causing the ruckus (Corbin) to hush because she was trying to watch her soap opera.

"We're very sorry, ma'am," Jared apologized, giving her a soul melting smile. "Oh…" Her anger evaporated, "That's alright; just don't let it happen again!" Then she turned into her room and slammed the door shut. Everyone clapped and Jared bowed.

"What did you tell her?" Monique asked, looking impressed.

"That Corbin had a rare condition then caused him to go crazy over things that had wheels and that he didn't realize he was being so loud because he can't help it. And that Drew, Corbin's caretaker, had been trying to stop him but it was useless because his draw to wheels was too strong to deny," Jared shrugged and everyone burst out laughing.

"She actually believed that?!" Corbin snorted.

"I was pretty convincing!" Jared blushed. Monique finally got a grip, "Okay, let's go boys," She took hold of Lucas' wheel chair and carefully wheeled him down to the main doors then Vanessa and Ashley helped pull Lucas to his feet.

Marc handed Lucas the cane and Lucas sighed, "I feel like a geyser!"

"Come on, grandpa, hold my hand!" Vanessa teased, putting his arm over her shoulder to take some of the weight off his knee. The problem was Vanessa's very short so it caused Lucas to be lopsided so Drew stepped forward and slid the arm around Vanessa onto his shoulder. But Drew was too tall so Lucas was still lopsided. Finally, Jared stepped up and put Lucas' arm over his shoulder and helped Lucas to the van.

They got him in the car and drove back to the hotel. The cast slowly went up to their rooms and situated a now very tired Lucas on the boy's couch then the girls went back to their rooms to shower and get into comfy clothing while the boys also got ready to watch a movie. Jared had gone back to his room, thanking them for lunch.

While 'Ocean's Eleven' played in the background, everyone chatted idly.

"So what did I miss today?" Lucas asked after awhile and everyone filled him in on all of the day's activities. "Haha, Corbin has to wear funny clothes for once!" Lucas laughed.

Corbin glared at him, "Like you can talk!" Lucas pretended to be hurt but started laughing anyway.

"And then Corbin suggested I dance in front of a giant V!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"That's not that bad, Ness," Lucas pointed out. "But still! I feel like a diva!"

"You are a diva!" They all shot back. "Hey! That was not nice!" Vanessa pouted. "Aw, we're just kidding, V," Drew comforted and she giggled, "I know!"

"Hate to break it to you kids but we should get going, it's late and Lucas looks dead on his…uh…couch…" Monique sighed, disentangling herself from the blanket she'd been wrapped in.

Drew kissed her on the cheek quickly while Vanessa and Ashley got up. Ashley bent over and kissed Lucas' forehead, "Get some sleep and do not walk on that thing!" She instructed. As she was pulling away, Lucas grabbed her by the neck and pulled her back down then kissed her on the mouth quickly.

Vanessa sighed, missing Zac. Monique put a comforting hand on the brunette's shoulder, "Sorry, Nessa."

"It's alright," Vanessa replied, trying not to sound sullen.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Ashley waved then the three girls went back across the hall and started getting ready for bed.

"So, what do you guys think of Jared?" Vanessa tried to sound offhand while she brushed out her hair.

"He's really shy," Ashley mumbled around her toothbrush.

"I like him, he seems really nice," Monique replied while flossing her teeth. "Why do you ask?" Ashley asked, wiping her mouth on a towel.

"No reason, just wondering," Vanessa responded quickly and Ashley and Monique caught each other's eye, "Right…" They both muttered at the same time.

"What?" Vanessa asked them wide-eyed. The two older girls shook their heads, smiling secretly as they walked out of the bathroom. "Hey, get back here and tell me!" Vanessa whined, following after them.

"Nighty night, Ness." Monique yawned, going into her room. "Don't let the dream Jared bite," Ashley giggled then went into her room before Vanessa could respond.

"What?!" Vanessa half-yelled but neither girl came back out so Vanessa went into her own room and collapsed on her bed, trying to figure out what they meant.

**Well, here's chapter 4! Thank you all for the reviews and feedback! So many of you have favorited or alerted it and I can't even describe how that makes me feel! I love it! Ooh…What's going on with Vanessa? Oh and I found out this week that Lucas had the surgery then the tour started three weeks later so my timelines a little off but not by much. Sorry for not updating all week, things got a little hectic around here! Keep the reviews coming because it's the only way I know what you want or what you like/don't like! XOXO**


	5. Chapter 5

The weekend passed quickly for the cast of High School Musical and come Monday morning, it was like the movie all over again. "Ah, how I love waking up the lovelies…" Monique giggled to herself and walked up to Ashley's door, knocking lightly then harder and harder, "Ashley!" She sang.

She heard an incoherent groan and grinned to herself as she spun to Vanessa's door, "Vanessa!" She chirped, drumming on the door.

She heard another muffled moan then went back to Ashley's door, "Ashley!" She shouted, whacking the door with her fist.

"Nuuuh…" She heard then the sound of covers being thrown back. Monique smiled softly, "Atta girl." She turned back to Vanessa's door and raised her fist to knock again as Vanessa opened the door.

Monique punched her in the forehead accidentally and Vanessa gasped then fell backwards as Monique screamed in shock and jumped over Vanessa's body into the room. "Oh my Lord, Vanessa! Are you alright?!"

Ashley stumbled out of her room in a pair of shorts and an oversized hoodie, "God, Mo, whatcha do to Nessa?" She mumbled on her way into the bathroom.

"I accidentally punched her!" Monique whispered, pushing Vanessa's hair off her face and putting her head in her lap. "Vanessa, can you hear me?" She whispered.

Ashley began laughing hysterically and Monique glared at her, "It's not funny!" she hissed, "Get me ice, quick!"

Ashley, still laughing, went into the kitchen area and came back out with a bag of ice and a paper towel. Vanessa groaned and her eyes fluttered open and the two conscious girls leaned over her.

Vanessa's eyes came back into focus and she screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw the two hanging over her; causing the girls to scream and fall backwards.

"What happened?!" Vanessa demanded, rubbing her forehead.

Monique crawled back over to her, "I was trying to wake you up and I kinda, sorta, accidentally punched you in the face!" Monique blurted quickly.

"You _what?!_" Vanessa shrieked. "I'm really, really sorry, Ness! It was a total accident!" Monique babbled.

"Mo, it's okay! I'm alright, I think. My head really hurts but its okay. I know you didn't do it on purpose!" Vanessa soothed, slowly sitting up and feeling her forehead, "How's your hand?"

Monique looked down and realized her hand was throbbing, "Probably better than your head." Monique chuckled and Vanessa started giggling hysterically.

"Oh jeez, I think you broke Vanessa!" Ashley rolled her eyes at them and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. Monique stood up then helped Vanessa up with her not swollen hand and they both followed Ashley, also brushing their teeth and hair.

A half hour later, Ashley, Monique and Vanessa were in the car, driving to their rehearsal hall. The boys, supposedly, had left before them so it was just the three of them in the car. Vanessa had wrapped a bandana around her head to hide the bruise that was swelling up. Monique was icing her hand using another bandana and Ashley was laughing at both of them.

Larry shook his head as they told him the story of the morning wake up call. "And I always thought it would be a crazed fan that would take Vanessa out…" He laughed.

"Mo has a pretty good punch." Vanessa defended. "We got the next Rocky on our hands!" Ashley squealed. "Would you two shut it?" Monique's face was turning pink so they dropped it, reluctantly.

They unloaded at the hall and rushed inside to see the three boys sitting on a table, sipping coffee. Kenny, Chucky, Jared and Marc were standing around the table talking as well.

"Good morning, ladies!" Kenny greeted loudly.

"Good morning!" They all panted back as they ran to where everyone was gathered.

"Are we late?" Monique panted.

"No, you're right on time! The boys were a little early." Kenny reassured them.

"That's surprising." Ashley quipped, going over and sitting between Lucas and Corbin.

"What's with the hippie look, Ness?" Chucky teased. Vanessa blushed and adjusted her bandana a little.

"It's pretty!" She defended.

"Hey, what happened to your hand?" Drew asked worriedly, lightly picking up Monique's iced hand.

"Oh, uh, well…" Monique stammered. "Let's just say Vanessa had a very interesting wake up call this morning." Ashley giggled and Monique and Vanessa glared at her. The boys all stared at them, waiting for an explanation.

"Okay, okay…" Monique sighed, "So, this morning I went to wake the girls up and was knocking on their doors. I heard Ashley get up and went to Vanessa's door but she opened the door right when I was about to hit the door again so I kinda punched her in the forehead…" Monique broke off, mumbling some other stuff.

Everyone stared at her then started laughing until the girl's glares stifled them. Drew reached over and gently pushed Vanessa's bandana up then gasped. Vanessa's eyes widened and she brushed her fingers against the raised bump.

"Jeez Mo, I didn't know you could hit like that!" Corbin teased.

Kenny, who had hidden his laughter, stepped forward and titled her head up towards him, "Does it feel okay, V?"

"Yeah!" Vanessa lied; her head actually was killing her.

"Suuuuure it does." Chucky grinned at her.

"So, Luc, how's the knee feeling?" Vanessa asked, changing the subject. Lucas shifted his knee, wincing a little, "It's, uh, okay." He lied as well and Vanessa smiled at him knowingly.

Lucas winked back as Kenny stood in the center of the room and cleared his throat. "All drama aside," He grinned at them, "It's time to get started. So, let's start with the opening song. Lucas, you can sit on the table there, if you're comfortable and everyone else, up you get!" Kenny clapped his hands and they all vaulted into motion.

The few band members sat at their instruments and began playing while Chucky handed out microphones. "Living in my own world, didn't understand that anything can happen when you take the chance…" Drew sang softly.

"I never believed in what I couldn't see. I never opened my heart (oh…) to all the possibilities…ooh…" Kenny motioned for them all to join in, "I know that something has changed, never felt this way and right here tonight this could be the start of something new! It feel so right to be here with you, oh! And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart the start of something new!"

Kenny stopped them briefly, "Lucas, that's where you go: 'Hello, San Diego!' Or something like that. Kay?"

"Alright." Lucas nodded and the band played a few chords then Kenny pointed to Lucas, who went: "San Diego say 'hello!'" And everyone clapped then they continued with the song.

After singing through 'Start of Something New' at least five times, they were given a brief break during which Ashley collapsed next to Lucas on the table.

"I wish I could sit on this the whole time!" She groaned.

"No you don't! It's extremely boring!" Lucas replied as Ashley wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Lucas brought a hand up and covered hers with his gently.

Meanwhile, Monique was having her hand examined by Drew while Corbin teased her about it.

"Mo packs a powerful punch, folks! This is one chick you do not want to mess with! Quick as lightening, strong as thunder!"

Finally Monique turned to him, "Do you want to experience my 'powerful punch?'" She asked, pretending to be threatening.

Corbin squealed girlishly and cowered behind Drew.

Vanessa was leaning against the piano and Jared walked over, holding something wrapped in his hand.

"Hey Vanessa," He greeted.

"Hey Jer, what's up?" She asked tiredly.

"Not a lot. You looked a little tired and I thought maybe this could help." He handed her an Advil and an ice pack which Vanessa took gratefully.

"That's awesome, thank you so much."

"No problem." Jared smiled at her then walked back over to Chucky and Kenny.

"Okay dudes, let's get back to work!" Kenny yelled happily and everyone but Lucas went back to the middle of the room. They sang through 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You' three times and everyone marveled at the new backup vocals Lucas was producing.

"Wow, I wish I could do that…" Corbin sighed and everyone laughed at him. They sang through all of the group numbers then did Vanessa's solo then Kenny called a brief lunch break during which they sent Corbin and Drew out to pick up food.

While the two boys were gone, the girls sat with Lucas and talked about girly things, much to his 'delight.'

"I know! I love black nail polish!" Vanessa squealed.

"It can be Goth, Halloween, Diva or Chic!" Ashley added.

"Plus it's dramatic and funky!" Monique laughed.

"But, like, you have to, like, reapply, like, everyday so, like, it doesn't, like, chip!" Lucas made fun of them and they glared at him. Ashley took off her hat and hit Lucas in the head with it.

"Hey!" He protested, swatting at her.

Vanessa flicking his ear and he ducked his head then Monique clapped her hands on either side of his face.

"I'm getting abused over here!" Lucas yelled, covering his head with his arms while the girls high fived each other and flipped their hair. "Drew, get control of your girlfriend!" Lucas shouted to Drew, who had just walked in.

"Monique, leave Lucas alone!" Drew replied half-heartedly.

"Corbin, save me!"

"Huh?" Corbin asked, coming in behind Drew and dropping the food onto the table.

"Oh, never mind!" Lucas muttered, dejectedly picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. Ashley leaned her back against his so he was holding her up then he teasingly leaned forward so she fell backwards and screamed.

Vanessa sat cross legged on the table, using Corbin's head as a tray. Monique sat with her legs in Drew's lap and Jared came over and sat next to Vanessa.

"Well, isn't this like a hallmark card?" Chucky teased, walking over to them and pulling out a clipboard. They all mumbled random replies and laughed.

"Okay, so…Ashley, you're going into choreography with me," Ashley pretended to groan, "Nooo, I refuse!" She pretended to hid behind Lucas while Chucky mock glared at her.

"Monique, you are going to choreograph your ballroom dance with Jared," Jared and Monique caught each other's eyes and Monique grinned at him as he turned a slight pink color.

"Drew and Vanessa, you're going to work on your duets together with the band," Drew and Vanessa did their own little handshake. "Corbin, you and the dancers are going to start working on jump rope," Corbin looked around for the dancers and Chucky pointed to the door, where they were walking in for the first time, "And Lucas, you're going to start writing some emcee stuff with Kenny. All good?"

"YEAH!" They yelled together and Chucky grinned, "Awesome, let's get started!" And the cast scattered. Corbin walked over to the 5 dancers who introduced themselves.

"I'm Kim, Chucky's sister." A girl with long, dark, curly hair smiled at him.

"Hey Kim, I'm Corbin!"

"I'm Tyne," Said a girl with long blonde hair.

"I'm Corbin!" He repeated, shaking her hand.

"I'm Sterling," A dark skinned boy smiled at him.

"Oh, from Disney 365? Cool!"

"I'm Nick." A pale boy with curly blonde hair grinned.

"And I'm Tia." A young woman with short, braided hair greeted.

"Hey, I'm Corbin." Corbin shook her hand then lifted it to his lips and kissed it, causing her to laugh.

"So have any of you jump roped before?" Corbin asked as they walked to their own studio room.

"Uh, does jump roping with your friends for fun count?" Tyne asked, laughing.

"Sure it does!" Corbin cheered then handed them all jump ropes.

"Okay, it's easy." And he began jumping so they jumped as well. After a few minutes, Tia tangled herself in her rope and fell over. Sterling reached down and pulled her up by the wrist while Corbin knelt down and began untangling the rope from her leg.

"God, I'm hopeless…" She laughed embarrassedly.

"You should've seen me trying to do Double Dutch! It looked like I was hanging myself!" Corbin comforted her.

Tyne and Tia laughed at Corbin then they began jump roping again.

**IWBM**

"Sorry Jared!" Monique apologized for the 50th time as she tripped over his feet and fell on her butt.

"It's alright, Monique." Jared said wearily, pulling her back up again.

"I just can't do this move!" She exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Sure you can!" Jared comforted, "Here, let's break it down slowly." Jared took her hands and wrapped an arm around her waist, spinning around slowly then dropped her back and catching her by the waist, dipping her twice, popping her back up using his arm then spinning her again.

"See, you can do it!"

"Yeah, when we're going negative 4 miles an hour and you're doing all the work!" Monique pointed out.

"Okay, let's do it again. We're just going a little bit faster but we won't go full speed," Jared led her through it again, saying the counts out loud and adding random instructions. They did it ten times, each time speeding up until they were going at full speed.

"See!" Jared panted, "You can do it!"

Monique squealed and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. "Okay, what do you want now?"

"Hey Jared?"

"Hey Monique?"

"Can we do that thing where the girl kicks her leg onto the guy's shoulder and they go 'whoosh!'" She made a motion with her hands.

Jared stared at her incredulously, "What?"

Monique giggled and explained it again, "I would go," She kicks her leg up in the air, "And you would," She pretends to catch it, "Then we'd go," She started running, "And it would look cool!"

"Oh! I get it!" Jared laughed, "Sure, we can! You've done it before, right?"

"Yeah but I forgot what it was called," Monique laughed sheepishly.

"Okay, let's do it." Jared caught Monique's leg then led her across the hall and did a dramatic dip, causing Monique to shriek and clutch Jared's neck tightly.

"Very good." He encouraged then lifted her back up. "Okay, let's take it from the top!" He led her as she kicked her leg in the air and spun around, did two splits, spun again, did the spin-y, dip thing then did the running move.

"Awesome! Okay!" Jared wrote it all down then clapped.

"I think that's good for now. We really need Drew and the music but I think that's a solid start for now!"

"Yeah-yuh!" Monique cheered and they walked out of the room together.

**IWBM**

"Ashley, quit fooling around and put down that mop!" Chucky yelled exasperatedly.

Ashley laughed hysterically and put down the mop she'd been 'making out' with.

"Okay, so 'Headstrong,' got any ideas?" He asked tiredly.

"We have the steamy stuff right?" She double checked.

"Yup, they're on their way here now."

"Okay, so when are they going off?"

"I haven't decided. What do you think?"

"Not the whole time, I'll gag myself!"

"Okay, okay…How about when you go 'Headstrong, crazy days…' They burst then you dance then it happens again…?"

Ashley mulled it over, "I love that!"

"Now we're getting somewhere!" "Should I hit the same move every time that happens?"

"Yeah, great idea!"

"Okay so like…" Ashley did a jump and spun around.

"That's a little hard, try an arm movement like…" Chucky jumped and punched the air.

"Yeah that's a lot better." Ashley agreed. "Ooooh! Then can we go 'when your minds made up and the music plays'…?" Ashley did a wrist flick then overlapped her hands and spread them to her sides.

"Yes, I like that move. Now, try this…" Chucky stepped backwards a few times and did the 'come on' move with his fingers then pointed down and bent over, "For 'headstrong, can you feel the beat? Meltdown, can you feel the beat?'"

Ashley tried it out and got confused, "What about the heat?"

Chucky looked at her confusedly then Ashley got an idea and did what he did but for the heat line, pretended to wipe sweat off her brow.

"Awesome! Now we were thinking of doing a diva move, like picking you up or something. What do you think?"

"That I'll probably kill myself." Ashley shot down.

"Aw, come on Ash!"

"I'll think about it…"

"It's not like we'd throw you! Just lift you up!"

"Fine, fine! I'll do it!" Ashley gave in.

"Yes!" Chucky cheered. "Now, 'He Said, She Said' should be more fun…It's a total pop song!"

"Right. What if we kinda act it out?"

"How so?"

"Like, a boy dancing around then a girl dances back at them and she keeps pretending to turn him down or something?"

"Wouldn't it make more sense if you were the girl?" Chucky suggested.

"Oh yeah…" Ashley laughed at herself, "Duh! But who should be the boy? Ooo, Chucky, you should do it!"

"Uh, can you say 'statutory rape'?"

"Chucky, I'm 21, it's okay."

"I'm just not comfortable with it. Pick a different dancer!"

"Like who? Ooo, Lucas?!"

"No, Lucas is not coming on stage to dance with you!" Chucky sighed exasperatedly, "How about Jared?"

"As in Jared, Jared?"

"Yeah, the only Jared in this tour!"

"Uh, okay. Will he be cool with it?"

"We can ask him later. For now, let's work more on 'Headstrong.'"

Ashley sighed and began talking, well arguing, with Chucky again.

**IWBM**

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!" Drew and Vanessa sang together, "If we're trying yeah we're breaking free!" "More than hope, more than faith!" "This is true, this is fate and together we see it coming!" "More than you, more than me!" "Not a want but a need, both of us breaking free!"

"Stop!" Ben, the guy playing the piano, told them, "This is where Kenny wants you guys to pump up the audience. So, ask them to sing along or something like that."

"Uh, okay." Drew laughed and they started the part over. "Let me hear you sing!"

"Soaring, flying!" Ben sang, pretending to be the audience.

"There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach! If we're trying, so we're breaking free," "Yeah we're breaking free!" "Running," "Climbing," "To get to that place, to be all that we can be! Now's the time, so we're breaking free (Oh, we're breaking free…) You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we…are," They finished and Ben clapped.

"That's so confusing!" Drew groaned about the audience thing.

"But it'll be worth it in the end!" Ben pointed out, "Take five guys."

Drew tossed Vanessa a water bottle which she caught then dropped.

"Smooth." He commented and she rolled her eyes at him, picking it up and taking a sip.

"That song makes me miss Zac…" Vanessa mumbled and sighed.

"Aw, I'm sorry Nessa." Drew put an arm around her and squeezed her tight, "You can always call him."

"Yeah except he doesn't answer cuz he's working." She groaned.

"Hm, maybe he'll stop in for a surprise or something!"

"Don't hold your breath." She muttered. Drew kissed her temple comfortingly then Ben walked back over and they started 'What I've Been Looking For (Reprise).'

"Why are we singing it twice? Why not do the second verse that Ryan and Sharpay do?" Vanessa asked after they sang it.

"Good question, I have no idea!" Ben laughed, "It's what Kenny wants."

"And what Kenny wants," Drew started.

"Kenny gets." Vanessa and Ben finished for him.

"Exactly!" Drew chuckled. "Okay you two, let's do those two songs once more then we can move on to your showcase solos. Might as well get started on those now."

"A'ight!" Drew and Vanessa agreed simultaneously and Ben stared at them then shook his head and started the piano again.

**IWBM**

"San Diego, say hello!" Lucas shouted, "You guys feeling good? Cuz you look good!" Kenny laughed at him. "Man, tonight is going to rock! Not only do we have all ten of the hit songs from High School Musical!" Kenny motioned for Lucas to pause before continuing, "We also have solo performances, surprises and much, much more! But first, allow me to introduce Corbin Bleu!" Pause, "Monique Coleman!" Pause, "Ashley Tisdale!" Pause, "Vanessa Hudgens!" Pause.

"Oh and Lucas," Lucas stopped, "Don't put Drew in that. I've already written something up for him so just go to yourself, please."

Lucas nodded, "And myself, Lucas Grabeel, we thank you for coming out here tonight!"

"Okay, now you're going to go into having a great show, blah, blah, blah then introduce Drew then the next song."

"Alright." Lucas took the sheet Kenny handed to him and began reading it off, "Now, you may have noticed we're missing a certain member of our cast. Zac Efron could not make it tonight because he's out filming 'Hairspray' with John Travolta. So, allow me to introduce Drew Seeley!"

"Now 'Status Quo." Kenny read from his list, "Okay, so then we have music, music, music, then 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You…"

"Thank you very much, San Diego!" Lucas yelled.

"'When There was Me and You…'"

"We'll catch Vanessa later!"

"Good! Now, do you have any ideas for Ashley?"

"I'd like to introduce everyone differently in a unique way. Sorta relating to their performance if I can, you know?"

"Right, so let's start with Ashley and figure this out." Kenny instructed, "Maybe you should be like 'Has anyone heard of Ashley Tisdale? Then talk a bit about her album or something along those lines."

"Sounds good," Lucas said in his normal voice, "Has anyone here heard of an Ashley Tisdale?" He shouted then paused for 'applause,' "Well, okay. Did you know she has an album coming out? Now, no one has heard it yet, this is a totally new album and you're going to be the first ones to hear it!"

"That's good, Lucas, keep going."

"Now, to get Ashley as psyched up as you are, let's have a little…competition…" Lucas made up off the top of his head.

"Any ideas for that?"

"Shouting match?"

"Too overdone."

"We can't do a dance off…How about one of those 'When I say banana, you say 'yeah?!' Kinda things?"

"Try it out and let's see."

"This side, when I say Ashley, you say 'yeah!' Okay? When I say Ashley, you say 'yeah!' Ashley," Pause, "Ashley!" Pause.

"Awesome, I like that! Let's make teams, for each side I mean."

"Sure. Colors or numbers?"

"Colors? Red and White?"

"Aw, come on Kenny!"

"Fine, fine, pick colors!"

"Pink and black?" Lucas said jokingly, "I was kidding!" He defended for the look Kenny gave him. "Okay, Red and Gold?"

"Sure, that's better!" Kenny agreed.

"So, this side over here. You're my Red team! Hello red team!"

"Right, then Ashley, yeah, Ashley, yeah! Then you should officially introduce her."

"Like, now give it up for Ashley Tisdale! Then run off?"

"Exactly! Great job! Then you have to interview her, probably after 'He Said, She Said.' So let's talk about that…"

Kenny and Lucas discussed Ashley's interview then what they would do for 'Get'cha Head in the Game.'

"Since I don't get to be in it, can I get all mad that I don't get to dance and stuff?"

"Yeah, sure. Maybe you could want to play one on one with someone…"

"Then give the ball away in the end."

"And sign it!"

"Yeah!" They high-fived each other, "Awesome dude!" Kenny laughed. "Let's go check on the others, it's getting late."

"Cool," Lucas got up and Kenny handed him the cane then he limped after the director into the main room where everyone was slowly congregating. 

"So, how'd it go?" Kenny asked everyone.

"Great."

"Good."

"Fine."

"Awesome!"

Came their responses.

"So, we all had good days?"

"Yup!"

"Alright. Have good nights then, we're meeting tomorrow and we're actually going to dance!" They all groaned and gathered their stuff then walked to the van to go back to the hotel.

They went to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner then went back to the girl's suite to hang out. They ended up having a poker tournament and it got down between Lucas and Vanessa.

"You are so going down, small fry!" Lucas teased.

"Oh no you didn't!" Vanessa shot back, doing a head dip.

"Oh yes I di'id!" He did an overdramatic head flip.

"4 cards, please." Lucas asked Monique, the dealer. She slid him 4 cards and he eyed his hand, keeping his expression blank.

"3 cards, please." Vanessa asked Monique as well, also keeping her eyes blank.

"To make this more fun, winner gets to have a massage by the loser." Ashley added evilly.

"Gee, thanks Ash!" Lucas and Vanessa muttered and she grinned at them.

"Reveal." Monique instructed and they both dropped their cards.

"Lucas, two pair." Drew read off.

"Vanessa, full house." Corbin read.

"OH! What now?!" Vanessa screeched, snapping her fingers in Lucas' face. Lucas groaned, "Nooo!"

"Love ya, baby!" Vanessa teased, winking at Lucas.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say!" He stuck his tongue out at her.

"I'll be nice, I won't make you give me a massage," Vanessa grinned and Lucas sighed in relief, "Tonight."

Causing Lucas to groan again. "Fine but I'm not doing a two hour one!" Lucas sighed.

"That's fine." Vanessa agreed.

"And no full body either!"

"Ew, Lucas, I like you but not like that!" Vanessa laughed.

"That's good to know!" Ashley rested her head against Lucas' arm.

"Hey, it was your idea!" He pointed out.

"I know!" She giggled, "Oh well…"

"We should get back, guys, it's late." Drew yawned.

"Yeah, g'night ladies!" Corbin hugged the three girls as he stood up. Drew hugged Ashley and Vanessa then kissed Monique softly.

Lucas gingerly got off the couch and kissed Ashley goodnight, gave Vanessa a one armed hug and let Monique hug one of his legs since he was too sore to bend down again.

"Nighty night, boys!" The girls called then Monique went to shower and went to bed.

Ashley and Vanessa stayed up talking for another hour or so then Ashley took a shower and went into her room to watch a movie.

Vanessa showered last and went back to the couch, not tired enough to go to her room.

She stayed up till the sky turned pink, thinking about how much fun the tour would be…with or without Zac.

**So sorry for not updating! I was going to a few days ago but didn't get a chance! We're planning a huge party right now with like 50 people so it's a little crazy around here! Thanks so much for the feedback, I love hearing from you! I just had fun with this chapter, it's pretty darn long! Keep the reviews coming, thanks a million! Love ya 400 pink M&Ms! XOXO**


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, the cast found themselves standing in the middle of the studio room (again) but this time, all the tables and chairs had been pushed against the walls and various microphones and technology things were scattered across one of the tables.

"Good morning, cherubs!" Kenny walked over to them and grinned while they waved sleepily. "So, today we start the dancing! Over the weekend and during most of yesterday, the band put together the numbers and Chucky thought up some choreography. Now, I know only Ashley has gotten to discuss said choreography with him so today, the rest of you are going to have your chance! Jared and Monique, you two are going to start working with the band and Drew so we can figure out how we're going to pull the ballroom number off;

"Ashley will meet with Chucky again so they can finish deciding on choreography; Vanessa, you and I are going to work on 'When There was Me and You' and sing through your songs so we can see if there's anything we need to work on; Corbin, you're going to meet with the dancers again and together you will choreograph the jump roping." Kenny read off of his clipboard and they struggled to keep up with his instructions.

"And Lucas, I guess you're going to be on your own for most of this while you write more emceeing stuff." Kenny said apologetically.

Lucas sighed, "On my own, pretending he's beside me! All alone, I walk with him till morning, without him, I feel his arms around me and when I lose my way, I close my eyes and he has found me…" He sang, pretending to be very sad.

Vanessa and Ashley burst out laughing while Monique rolled her eyes good naturedly.

Corbin ran over to Lucas and put his arm around him and they began to sway back and forth, "In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight and all I see is him and me forever and forever…"

Drew joined them and the three swayed together, "And I know it's only in my mind, that I'm talking to myself and not to him! And although I know that he is blind, still I say there's a way for us…"

"Oh my Lord, would you stop!" Monique cried, trying desperately not to laugh. Vanessa and Ashley had fallen to the floor in giggles and were now clutching each other, hoping to regain composure.

Kenny laughed out loud and clapped the three young men on their backs, "Ah, you guys make me laugh all too often!" He mused.

"Aw, thanks Kenny!" They said in unison.

"Right, well, anyway, then in a few hours, we'll switch and one of you will go with Chucky, one of you will sing with me and so on." Kenny finished reading and grinned at all of them. "So, off you go!" He clapped and they all scattered.

Lucas sat down in the corner of the main room and began adding onto the list he and Kenny had started the day before. Ashley went into a smaller room with Chucky where they began reviewing the choreography from yesterday; Vanessa and Kenny went into another small room with a piano; Corbin went into the same room he'd been in yesterday and he and the two other dancer boys began jump roping while the dancer girls talked amongst themselves.

Monique, Jared and Drew stayed in the main room with Lucas but stood over with Ben and the band so they could get started.

"Okay, so I think Kenny wants you to come out and sing using the mic stand, Drew." Ben was wracking his brain, trying to remember what Kenny had told him. "So, Monique and Jared are supposed to come out during the mini musical interlude in the original song, right?"

The three performers nodded.

"Okay, well, obviously we've extended the solo so, Rick, could you please?" He gestured to Rick's guitar. Rick picked it up and began playing random chords to warm up then went into the musical interlude, adding in random guitar bits and making it much more elaborate.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Monique marveled.

"Okay, I think we're going to have to mesh the guitar and the dancing so the moves you guys hit sort of go with the music and vice versa." Ben thought out loud.

"How about we see what you two made yesterday and we'll go from there?"

"Sure!" Monique and Jared went to the middle of the room and quickly stretched before Jared took Monique's hand and they began doing yesterday's dance. She kicked her leg out to her side then he spun her around and she dropped into two splits before he pulled her up and they began spinning around each other. They did the spin-y move that Monique had had difficulty with without many problems, save for Monique's ankle giving out and Jared catching her without batting an eye and continuing until they did their running move and ended in the dip.

Ben, Rick and Drew applauded while Jared pulled Monique back to her feet and they bowed together. "That was so good!" Monique squealed, throwing her arms around Jared and laughing. Jared chuckled and squeezed her back then took her arm and brought her back over to the other boys.

"That's awesome!" Drew grinned and put an arm around Monique.

"Wow…" Rick and Ben said at the same time. "We're going to have to redo the solo, then."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Monique felt bad.

"It's not a big deal, Mo." Rick soothed.

"Is that the whole thing?" Ben asked, changing the subject.

"Uh, we should put some more Monique-Drew action in there…" Jared said quietly.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot!" Monique gasped.

Drew pretended to be hurt, "What kind of girlfriend forgets about her boyfriend?!" He mock sobbed and she pouted at him. "Sorry!"

"It's alright, I don't mind." Drew grinned again and shrugged.

"Right…" Ben rolled his eyes at the love birds. "Why don't you guys work on that while we try to get the solo right?" He suggested dryly.

"Okie dokie!" Monique was feeling giddy from dancing and led the two boys back into the main room.

"I guess we should do it somewhere between this move," Jared grabbed Monique and did the dip thing with her, "And the end."

"Yeah, but I don't dance…" Drew reminded them.

"Sure you do!" Monique spun to him and he caught her.

"That looked really good! Let's try this…" Jared grabbed Monique again and did the dip then spun her around towards Drew, who caught her awkwardly.

"Drew, when you catch her, grab her by the waist and the hand and do this," Jared instructed evenly, wrapping one arm around Monique's waist and holding her wrist then stepping in an almost square with her, "And a key point is your faces should be inches apart, staring into each other's eyes." He murmured, his face close to Monique's as they danced. "Alright, give it a go." Jared reluctantly released Monique to Drew.

They tried the move and smashed heads and fell over in defeat. Jared snorted at them and offered his hands to both of them, "That was graceful."

"Oh shut it, Jared, you're a professional!" Monique put on her best whiny voice.

"Yeah and I've never done this before!" Drew imitated her voice.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Jared held up his hands in surrender, "Try it again, you'll get it!"

This time, Drew caught Monique by the waist and they walked together, gazing into each other's eyes with dazed smiles on their faces.

"Okay guys." Jared started but they didn't seem to hear him, "Guys?" He said a little louder, "Guys?!" He yelled and they leapt apart.

"Sorry Jer…" Monique murmured, hooking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"It's okay. After that, try something like this," Jared took Monique in his arms and spun her around then walked her like a debutante and released her hand. "So she goes back to me." He added.

Drew nodded and did this very easily then Jared caught her and they resumed their spinning around from before. Then Jared spun her back towards Drew.

"Okay, Drew, take Monique in your arms like this," Jared wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she placed one hand in his hand and the other on his shoulder. "Now, spin around three times," They did that, trying not to laugh, "Spin her away from you, still holding her hand." He instructed.

Drew did but let go of her hand and Monique went flying so Jared lunged across the room and caught her before she fell. "Whoa!" Monique gasped as she was suspended above the ground in Jared's arms.

"Nice catch." Drew laughed.

"Nice throw." Jared replied, setting Monique back on her feet. "Do it again then, Monique put your hands on his shoulders and Drew put your hands right here." He grasped Monique a little bit below her armpits. They did this and ignored the awkwardness of the position.

"Now Drew lean back and Monique pick the leg your steadier on and stand on it while lifting the other leg behind you like an ice skater." Jared did the same while holding his arms out to his side.

"There, that looks nice now pop her back up and we can take a break."

Drew pushed Monique back up and grabbed her hands before she fell again then the three slumped to the ground, exhausted.

**IWBM**

"Because I liked the view, oooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, I thought you felt it too…When there was me…and you…" Vanessa finished and Kenny played the final chords on the piano and leaned back on his bench.

"That was lovely, Ness." Kenny complimented. "Thanks Kenny." Vanessa grinned at him.

"Okay, let's sing it again; since you're voice is a bit more mature and developed now, I really want you to open it up."

"Open it up?"

"Yeah, let go, you know? Let it run its course and see what happens!" Kenny made a few dramatic hand motions and Vanessa nodded like she understood what the heck he was talking about.

Kenny played the opening chords for her then nodded her cue and Vanessa took a deep breath, "It's funny when you find yourself."

"Stop." Kenny instructed and Vanessa blushed, fearing she'd done something wrong.

"Okay, Vanessa, you have a lovely voice, you don't need to force the notes. Get your air under you then let it come, don't push it. Try breathing through your nose, it makes you sound fuller." He said kindly and Vanessa nodded and breathed through her nose while he opened the song again.

"It's funny when you find yourself looking from the outside, I'm standing here but all I want is to be over there. Why did I let myself believe miracles could happen? 'Cause now I have to pretend that I don't really care," Vanessa sang much stronger and let herself hold a few notes here and there.

Kenny added a second hand on the piano so it was fuller for the chorus.

"I thought you were my fairy tale, a dream when I'm not sleeping, a wish upon a star that's coming true oooh, ooh but everybody else could tell that I confused my feelings with the truth; when there was me and you," Vanessa took another deep breath while Kenny took away the other hand and made the melody soft for her.

"I swore I knew the melody that I heard you singing; and when you smiled, you made me feel like I could sing along! But then you went and changed the words now my heart is empty! I'm only left with used to be's and once upon a song!"

Kenny kicked it up again and yelled to Vanessa, "Breath deep!" 

"Now I know you're not a fairy tale and dreams were meant for sleeping! And wishes on a star just don't come true ooh, ooh, ooh, oooh, 'Cause now even I can tell that I confused my feelings with the truth because I liked the view when there was me and you! I can't believe that I could be so blind, it's like you were floating while I was falling and I didn't mind…" Vanessa held that note for as long as she could then took a deep breath again, "Because I liked the view ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh I thought you felt it too….When there was me….and you…" She held the last note and softly faded out.

Kenny jumped up and clapped loudly, "That was so much better! You're voice is much more rich and deep when you do it like that! Great work!" Vanessa blushed and cleared her throat, "Thanks Kenny…" She giggled.

"Alright, so you and Jared decided on 'Say Ok?'" Kenny asked, flipping through a notebook.

"Yup!" Vanessa sat cross legged on the chair and watched Kenny searching for her sheet music. "Okay, let's do that next. Ready?" Vanessa nodded gamely.

"One, two, three…" Kenny began playing a piano version of the song and

Vanessa breathed through her nose and starting singing, "You are fine, you are sweet, but I'm still a bit naïve with my heart. When you're close, I don't breath, I can't find no words to speak, I feel sparks."

Kenny stopped her momentarily, "We have to shorten it so jump to 'Don't wanna start seeing you if I can't be your only one, so tell me…' Alright?"

"Kay."

"Again." Vanessa sang through the whole song again then Kenny altered some things and made her sing it again.

"That was very good, V. You're really improving!" Kenny was always one to dish compliments.

"Thank you, Kenny!" Vanessa grabbed her water bottle and downed half of it.

"Okay, we can't really do your other songs, you'll have to do those with the band later. Unless we do it without the music…" Kenny thought for a few moments, "Can you do the songs without music?" 

"I can try," Vanessa shrugged.

"Great! Let's give it a go!" Kenny pretended to drum on the piano and beat boxed with his mouth for the opening of 'Let's Dance.'

"It's so hot, I can't stop the music fills the room! Vibrations, sensations, that beat goes boom, boom, boom." Kenny started whispering with her, "I've got to keep it together, I've got to keep it together, I've got to keep it together, watch the crazy people!" Vanessa jumped to her feet, "Let's dance!"

She and Kenny danced around the small room with each other and finally, he lifted her up and she ended up sitting on the piano, "Let's dance…" She held the last note again then started laughing.

"Awesome job! Okay, I'm sure we'll do better with the music." Kenny laughed with her. "Let's just run through 'Come Back to Me' then we can go and start switching around.

"Y'all need to get ready to hear the unbelievable, indescribable, Vanessa Hudgens, Baby V!!!!! Baby come back!" Kenny said in an overly deep voice and Vanessa had to force herself not to laugh.

"Everyday I try to play another game but my heart can't take it. I try to find another boy but all the while I can't face it. Why do I miss you so much? Gotta stop this hurt inside. Oh baby, please, give us one more try!"

Kenny sang high and off key, "Baby come back!"

"I see you out with all your friends, laughing it up as you pretend to have a good time. I know cause I'm living the same lie. But one of us has got to say we can't keep living this same way, so I'll be the one. Yeah, I'll say, I'll say, I'll say, I'll say it again! Baby come back to me, in my heart I still believe we were meant to be. Together so whatever it takes!"

"Baby come back!"

"Baby come back to me, I should have never set you free, my baby, come back!"

"Baby come back!" They finished the song like this and Vanessa hugged Kenny, "Thanks for being my back up!"

"Anytime, girl! Come on, let's see what the others are doing!" He led her out of the piano room, laughing with her about his amazing vocal skills.

**IWBM**

Tia, Tyne and Kym were sitting on the floor watching the boys jump roping to 'Push It to the Limit.'

"Corbin is so hot." Tyne murmured and Kym nodded. "Totally, look at the muscles."

"Look at the butt." Tia added and the three started cracking up.

"You guys think us sweating our heads off is funny?" Panted Sterling.

"No, watching you try to jump rope is funny!" Tia corrected smoothly.

Sterling glared at her while Nick and Corbin laughed breathlessly.

"Okay, let's stop." Corbin dropped the jump rope and sat next to Tia on the ground. The other two gratefully dropped next to Kym and sucked down water bottles.

Tia went to lean against Corbin then grimaced, "You're sweaty."

"Really?" Corbin asked sarcastically then threw his arms around Tia and hugged her tight.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, trying to push him off her, "You're so gross!"

"And you love it!" Corbin teased, letting go of her and smirking. Tia stuck her tongue out at him while she wiped the sweat off her arms.

"Okay, how about I teach you the dance for the song?" Corbin jumped to his feet. "Come on, boys, it'll be fun!"

"Fun for whom?" Nick grunted as he stood up and hauled Sterling up next to him.

"Everyone!" Corbin shook out his muscles then began showing them the dance from his video. "Push, push, push, push then bring your arms back, hook this around and turn." He instructed slowly and the boys followed along, leaving the girls to talk again.

"Looks like someone's got a crush…" Kym whispered teasingly across Tyne.

"Who?" Tia and Tyne asked together.

Kym rolled her eyes, "You and Corbin, duh!"

"What?!" Tia yelled, causing both girls to jump and the boys to look at them.

"What's wrong now?!" Sterling asked exasperatedly.

"Thought I saw a spider!" Tia lied on the spot.

"So you yelled 'what?!' at it?" Corbin asked incredulously.

"As in, what is that but I was too freaked to finish it!" Tia kept lying while Tyne and Kym snickered.

"Ooookay…" Corbin and the boys turned around and kept dancing and the girls smirked at Tia.

"Oh shut it." She muttered irritably, ignoring them like she'd been ignoring her heart since yesterday.

She watched Corbin teaching the dance and tried not to think about what Kym had said, preparing to lie to save her heart.

**IWBM**

"You're being ridiculous!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

"Ridiculous!"

"Unreasonable!"

"Ridiculous!"

"Unreasonable!"

"Okay, okay, stop!" Chucky yelled, breaking up the argument he was having with Ashley.

Ashley groaned and sat down on the ground stubbornly.

Chucky closed his eyes for patience then sat next to her, "Ashley, it's not that big a deal!"

"Chucky, I'm not comfortable with it!"

"It's not like we're throwing you around like a rag doll! It'll be like lying on a couch only the couch is made of boys! What more could you want?"

"Dignity?" Ashley quipped and Chucky glared at her.

"Loads of people get carried on stage; it's not that big a deal!" He repeated for the billionth time.

"What if you drop me?"

"That's what practice is for!"

"What if you drop me during practice?" 

"That's what mats are for!"

"Chucky!"

"Ashley!"

"Chucky!"

"Ashley, enough! At least consider it and let us try it before you write it off, okay?"

"Fine…" Ashley grumbled.

"We still need to talk to Jared about the 'He Said, She Said' thing but I was thinking, let's make it even more like a skit. In the beginning you, Tia, Tyne and Kym can-"

"Who?"

"The female dancers."

"Oh…"

"Anyway, the four of you can stand in a huddle and look over at me, Jared, Nick and Sterling-"

"You, Jared and who-who?"

"Male dancers."

"Oh…Sterling as in Disney 365 Sterling?!" She squealed suddenly and Chucky sighed heavily, "Yes, Ashley, that Sterling."

"Oh my God, I love him!" She clapped and Chucky glared at her.

"_Right_, now then, you guys look at us and Jared looks over and you can be like 'Oh my God, he looked at me!' then the girls can push you towards him then start the song and you can be all 'come on, come on' then when he gets too close back away and be like 'not so fast!'" Chucky finished quickly before she could interrupt anymore.

Ashley mulled it over and grinned, "Yeah, that works. I like that idea, it goes well with the song."

"That's the point." Chucky replied tiredly. "Okay, so we have 'Headstrong' pretty much done, I think mostly you'll just skip and lead us around stage until the chorus. Then during the bridge is where you'll get lifted up."

Ashley glared at him.

"Okay, possibly get lifted up. Then we can end the song in a small group then we can start 'We'll Be Together' which has no choreography, you just do what feels right because you'll be up there by yourself. Then the 'He Said, She Said' skit. All good?"

"Yup!" Ashley agreed, twirling a strand of blonde hair through her fingers.

"Cool, so think about the lift and I'll see you later!" Chucky waved bye to Ashley as she walked away then slumped onto the ground, exhausted.

**IWBM**

Lucas watched amusedly as Drew, Monique and Jared attempted their three way ballroom dance and listened to Rick and Ben trying to rework their guitar part.

He figured out how to introduce Drew then worked on what he could say to Monique and Drew afterwards. He wanted to give Jared credit so he added Jared into the mix then felt bad and added Rick in too.

He also tried to think of a way to introduce Corbin and decided something along the lines of a wrestling introduction would be the best. _Who's ready to rock the house?_ He tried.

_No…that's stupid…Are you ready to rumble?!...What the hell?...Eh, I'll get back to the opening line later. Ladies and Gentlemen, from Blue town, Blue town?! What's wrong with me?! Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Blue seat! Eh…think, think…From the Blue house…From the Blue palace…From the Blue…Corner! Yeah, corner! Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Blue corner! Uh, what else do they say? Uh, weight? How much does Corbin weigh? I have no clue!_

"Hey Monique!" Lucas yelled to Mo.

Monique turned around, "Yeah?"

"How much does Corbin weigh?"

"I have no clue!" Monique laughed, "Why?"

"Professional jealousy." Lucas shrugged and winked at Monique who grinned then went back to dancing.

_Okay, I'll just make it up for now…170? With all that hair? Sure, sounds reasonable. Okay: Ladies and Gentlemen, from the Blue corner, weighing in at 170, uh…height? Standing tall at…How tall is he?_

"Mo, how tall is Corbin?"

"I'd say around 5'11. Wait, is that including hair?"

"Uh, no…"

"Then yeah, 5'11 give or take an inch."

"Thanks."

Monique smiled and turned around again. _Standing tall at 5'11, beating the stuffing out of you! Wait, that sounds bad…Something about singing or dancing…Dancing his pants off! Wait, that's vaguely dirty…Singing songs off of his new album! Yeah! Put your hands together for Corbin Bleu!_

"Finally!" Lucas exclaimed, dropping the paper and pen and flexing his hand painfully.

Vanessa and Ashley walked in just then, chattering about how annoying choreographers were. Kenny followed them, looking amused at their conversation. Corbin came in with the dancers, looking sweaty and frazzled but what else was new?

"So you all made it through the first round in one piece, eh?" Kenny teased and they all laughed. "Well, let's see how you do with round two. I'll give you your new assignments then you can take a quick 15 minute break then off to your next job, alright?"

Everyone nodded and Kenny grabbed his notebook again.

"Okay, so, Vanessa, into choreography with Chucky; Ashley, come sing with me. Corbin, work with Jared on your choreography; Monique and Drew keep practicing what you learned this morning; Lucas, keep working on your emceeing stuff. Sorry that you have to work alone but there's not much we can do with you right now." He added to Lucas who shrugged and cracked his neck.

"Okay, so after that, it will be time for lunch then we'll do two more rounds of this stuff this afternoon! Got it?"

"We got it!" They all chanted.

"Off you go!" Ashley and Lucas sat down where he'd been sitting before and Ashley told him all about choreography with Chucky.

"And he wants me to do this lift but I'm not comfortable with it!" She finished then chewed her granola bar.

Lucas listened quietly until she was done, "Why aren't you comfortable with it?" He asked patiently.

"They could drop me or something!"

"They dropped me on you last year." He reminded, "You were fine after that."

"I'll look stupid!"

"Ashley, you'll only look stupid if you feel stupid. Trust Chucky and the boys, they know what they're doing. Hey, they lift me up all the time!"

Ashley smiled at him, "Thanks Luc."

"Anytime, Ash." He grinned at her and she settled herself under his arm peacefully.

Meanwhile, Jared and Vanessa were sitting on a table, talking quietly when Chucky came over.

"Hey V, hey Jared."

"Hey Chucky!" they replied in unison.

"Listen, Jared, Ashley and I were talking and we think that during her song 'He Said, She Said' we'd have her be the girl and one of the dancers be the guy and they'd sorta act out the song. Would you be the guy?"

Jared shrugged, "That's fine as long as Ashley's cool with it."

"Great! Oh and I also was thinking of lifting Ashley up and carrying her a few feet, are you alright with that?" 

"Sure, again, as long as Ashley's cool with it."

"Awesome! How's Monique doing?"

Vanessa stopped listening after that because jealous alarms were going off in her head and she was trying to fight them. _What are you jealous about? You have Zac! What more could you want?!_

A hot ballroom dancer…Her subconscious taunted and Vanessa swatted at it then realized the two boys had gone silent.

"Vanessa, why were you waving your hands around?" Jared asked slowly.

"I was?" Chucky nodded.

"Oh! Thought I, uh, saw a bug…?" Vanessa tried and they stared at her then kept talking. _Whew, close call…_ She mused, then shut off her mind and listened to the dancers.

Monique, Drew and Corbin were chatting about how much fun the tour seemed like it was going to be.

"Hey Corby?" Monique said suddenly.

"Yes, MoMo?"

"How much do you weigh?"

"Excuse me?!" Spluttered Corbin.

"Lucas wanted to know and I just remembered. How much do you weigh?"

"Uh, God Mo, I don't know…" Corbin thought hard for a few minutes, "I'd say 145 maybe…"

"Thank ya!" She giggled, "Oh and how tall are you?"

"With or without my hair?"

"Uh, without!"

"I think I'm about 5'10. Maybe…"

"Thanks Corby!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Then he and Drew started talking while Monique skipped over to Lucas and Ashley and delivered the information.

"Aw, thanks Mo!" Lucas quickly scribbled it down while Ashley and Monique shrugged at each other.

"Okay guys, times up! Let's get back to work!" Chucky yelled and everyone begrudgingly went to their new stations.

**Wow, this was 7 pages without spacing so it's 14 with! Sorry if it's too long but I had a lot to say! I actually split the chapter, sadly. Thank you for all of the reviews and feedback! I hope you're enjoying this story! Oh the was because I spelled Kym's name wrong last chapter! And Ben and Rick are made up because I couldn't think of the guitarist's name! Thanks guys! Love ya 400 twizzlers (ew that would be so gross!) XOXO**


	7. Chapter 7

"Aren't we supposed to be rehearsing?" Monique asked breathlessly, pulling away from Drew and glancing around to make sure they were alone in their studio.

"No, of course not!" Drew grinned at her playfully and she let out a rather un-Monique-ish giggle.

"Come on, we have to at least try this dance once before we give up completely." She said tactfully as she disentangled herself from him and walked to the center of the room. Drew sighed and righted his shirt as he walked over next to her.

"Okay, I think there's a square dance thingy somewhere in here…" Monique muttered, more to herself than anything else.

"Oh! I remember that!" Drew spun her around so her back was against his torso and wrapped one arm around her waist then took her hand in his.

"Wow Drew, I'm impressed! You remembered something!" Monique teased as they slowly walked through the square thing Jared had taught them. "Now spin me away, but hold my hand!"

Monique shrieked as she spun into the door and crumbled to the ground. Drew's jaw dropped and he bounded over next to her, "Oh my God, are you okay?" He asked hurriedly, rolling her over so she was on her back.

"Smooth move, Romeo." Monique laughed, grabbing his outstretched hand and springing to her feet.

"It's a really good thing I did Dancing With the Stars, otherwise I think that last one would've killed me!" She did a body roll to stretch her back and Drew rolled his eyes at her.

"Gee, make me feel worse, why don't cha?!" Monique smiled sweetly at him and took her place in front of him again, "Okay, this time hold my hand." She reminded him, squeezing his hand tightly in hers as he spun her away and walked her in a semi-circle then released her and Monique just stood there and did a little dance, pretending to be dancing with Jared while Drew posed in place.

Monique spun back to him and Drew caught her in his arms and they spun around three times then did a few dip-y things and finished with the stretched out move Jared had shown them.

"Ha! We rehearsed!" Drew cheered triumphantly.

"Not so fast. We have to do it again." Monique said bemusedly as Drew groaned.

"Whyyyyyy?" He whined.

"Becaaaaaause!" Monique whined back at him and spun into him again. They spun around and began doing their mini-dance again and they did it 5 more times until Monique's legs gave out and she fell on the ground.

Drew fell down next to her and stretched out restfully while Monique rolled over so her head was on the crook of his neck. Drew absently stroked her hair, "Do we have to move again?"

"Nah. Let's rest for a little while." Monique murmured, closing her eyes tiredly.

"Sweet!" Drew smiled at her and she smiled back without opening her eyes.

Drew tilted his head so he could kiss her forehead then rested it back on the ground and closing his eyes as well.

**IWBM**

"This is not what I want. This is not what I planned. And I just gotta say 'I do not understand!' Something is really-"

Kenny jumped in, "Something's not right!"

"Really wrong! And we gotta get things back where they belong! We can do it, we can do it, we can do it!" Kenny sang the under parts for her as she rocked her head to the music, "Everybody quiet!" She shouted and Kenny stopped the song after that.

"Very good! Mean and sultry!"

"Everything that Sharpay is made of!" Ashley pointed out jokingly and Kenny laughed hard at her.

"Alright, well then, let's go with that! Let's sing 'He Said, She Said' please!" Kenny had her singing a cappella.

"Boy walk in the spot he's so fresh and he got what he need to impress and just look at that way that he's dressin' ain't no question, chicks like 'oh!' Girl walk in the spot she stop traffic! She got everything, you can't pass it! So Jessica Alba fantastic, instant classic, boys like 'oh!' Baby, I could see us movin like that, baby, I could see us dancing like that, baby, I could see us kissing like that, we don't need more of that he said, she said." She kept singing and Kenny laughed at the lyrics.

"Nice and sugary for Miss Tisdale." He commented when she finished.

"Hey, being mean and sultry 24/7 is harder than it looks!" Ashley defended.

"I wouldn't know," Kenny winked at her and began playing a few chords of 'We'll Be Together.'

"Softly, Ash." Kenny instructed.

Ashley breathed in and began on the wrong note. "That's alright. Try it again." Ashley did it two more times before she got the right pitch.

"I'm not alone even when we're apart, I feel you…yeah. I'm not afraid, I know what you're thinking, I can hear you…everywhere. Some people say it'll never happen and we're just wasting time. But good things come when you least expect them so I don't really mind. We'll be together, come whatever, not just staring at the stars. Just remember, no one else can tell us who we are. We'll be together so don't ever stop listening to your heart cause I can't turn mine off." She sang quietly. 

"Okay, a little louder for the second verse." Kenny instructed gently.

"I can't pretend this is a rehearsal for the real thing, cause it's not. And, I know we're young but I can't help feeling what I'm feeling and I won't stop." _Lucas…_

"Some things are meant to be and they'll there when the time is right. Even though I know that, I swear I wish it was tonight!" She sang and Kenny jumped in with her for the first line of the chorus to make her louder, "We'll be together, come whatever not just staring at the stars. Just remember, no one else can tell us who we are. We'll be together so don't ever stop listening to your heart. Cause I can't turn mine off…oh whoa."

Kenny stopped her. "We're skipping the bridge, going straight to the last chorus." And nodded for her to continue, "We'll be together come whatever not just staring at the stars, just remember that no one else can tell us who we are. We'll be together so don't ever stop listening to your heart. Cause I can't turn mine off, oh whoa! (We'll be together, come whatever, whatever, whatever…) Oh, oh. I'm not alone, even when we're apart…I feel you…" Ashley ended, wiping the dampness from her eyes.

"Wow…" Kenny murmured, "That was beautiful! I really like that song! Just remember to know where your pitches are and don't be afraid to pause to breath, you don't want to run out of air on stage." He wrote some stuff down.

"Right, okay." Ashley nodded, sipping her water bottle.

"So, 'Headstrong!' I love this song! It's so fun, it's got all these Indian-like beats and it makes me think of Indiana Jones movies!" Kenny rambled and Ashley laughed at him.

"Are you we doing that without music now, too?" She asked.

"You got it, girl!" Kenny began beat boxing the opening notes.

"I'm a straight up kinda girl, I am. I'm a tellin' it like it is, I am. And that's just the kinda girl I am, head up, hands up, tell me! You're a honey kinda boy, you are! You're a talented kinda boy you are! And that's just the kinda boy you are, head up, hands up, these are headstrong crazy days when your minds made up and the music plays, headstrong, can you feel the beat? Meltdown, can you feel the heat? Meltdown, it's not a crush, in a hot, hot room we're in a rush! Headstrong, can you feel the beat? Meltdown, can you feel the heat?" Ashley finished 'Headstrong' then she and Kenny began talking about how random it was.

"I don't know, they just gave it to me and I was like 'ew, this song is too weird!' then I listened to it and now I love it!" Ashley confessed.

"That happens a lot. You hate something, then you listen to it for awhile and you love it," Kenny agreed, gathering his notes and leading Ashley out of the piano room.

**IWBM**

"Let's dance right now, spin me around, shake me down!" Chucky sang, shaking his hips and spinning around. "Okay, try that." Vanessa shook her hips, moved her legs and dropped down in a squat then came back up and spun again.

"Wow, that's better than what I did!" Chucky laughed. "Okay, so we've been talking about entrances and we think we've figured it out. Corbin is going to pop out on this thing called a toaster, it goes below stage and it's spring loaded so all Corbin has to do is jump and it will fire him up onto the stage. So, we've decided for you, we'll lower the V then have you get on the toaster and un-spring load it so we can just raise it slowly so you come up in front of the V. It's like an old diva performance. You'll come up during the opening note of 'Let's Dance.'" Chucky told her excitedly.

Vanessa stared at him blankly, "What?" she deadpanned.

Chucky sighed, "We're going to roll you up on a piece of wood so you travel from below stage to stage level and start singing." He simplified.

"Oh…" Vanessa smiled and nodded then glared at him, "NO!" She yelled. Lucas, who was sitting against the wall and writing more stuff, snorted and tried to stifle his laughter.

"First Ashley, now you! Did you guys take diva pills this morning?!" Chucky asked exasperatedly.

Vanessa gave him a cool stare, "I resent that."

"Okay, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. But, V, it's not a big deal. You'll be safe and it'll be fun! Corbin's doing it!" Chucky lied, he hadn't asked Corbin yet.

"It doesn't sound safe!" Vanessa insisted.

"Okay, let's take a minute to breath." Chucky reasoned. "Now, let's move on and we'll talk about the toaster thing later. For 'Come Back to Me' we were thinking of having you dance around while the dancers danced together and then they can skip up the ramp so during the bridge, you walk up the ramp and then we all follow you. Then we can end at the top of the ramp and then we all run off for 'Bop to the Top.'"

"There's a ramp?" Vanessa asked curiously.

"Yeah, we got this ramp that we can take with us to each venue, it curves up the stage. We're going to try and incorporate it in every number if we can." Chucky replied, looking very excited about this ramp.

"Okay, so for 'Let's Dance,' I'm doing that mini dance you taught me?"

"Yup."

"Then 'Say Ok' I have no choreography?"

"Right."

"And 'Come Back to Me' I just stand and look pretty?"

"No! You're going to dance around and pump up the audience while you sing. The dancers are going to dance behind you and look pretty!" Chucky corrected quickly.

"Hm…sounds pretty good."

"Told ya so! Okay, let's run through 'Let's Dance.'" Chucky hit play on the CD player and he and Vanessa began dancing in harmony, Chucky in front of her so she could watch if she forgot. He led her in a circle, calling over his shoulder that this would be the ramp part and they posed as the song ended.

"And that is what you will do!" Chucky cheered.

"So I just do this," Vanessa kicked her legs as she spun around and fell on her butt.

"Well…that's one way to do it." Chucky tried not to laugh as he pulled her back up.

"Oh shut it, Chucky!"

"Relax and try it again." This time Vanessa spun around and began shimmying her hips.

"Yeah, like that!" Chucky clapped. "Okay, let's just practice you going around during 'Come Back to Me.'" He went back a few tracks and began the song. Vanessa just walked around pretending to hold a microphone and Chucky turned it off.

"Change of plans, we'll give you some dancing…" He thought for awhile, "Alright, try this." He did a few side steps and flapped his arms then spun so he was facing the other way and did it again. Vanessa copied him then Chucky began spinning and waving his hips around. Vanessa followed suit, adding a few kicks and hair flicks in there.

"Now, you did a video for this right?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you have choreography?"

"Duh."

"Okay, for the chorus, let's use some of that dancing." He decided. Vanessa did the leg thing during, "I'll say, I'll say, I'll say, I'll say it again! Baby, come back to me!" Vanessa stretched her arms up then pulled them back and swayed her hips, "In my heart I still believe we were meant to be." She threw her arms over her head and stepped backwards, "Together so whatever it takes! Baby, come back to me, I should've never set you free! My baby, come back, baby, come back!"

"Okay, yeah, do that for the second chorus too because that works nicely. I think we've done enough for the day." Chucky decided, handing Vanessa a water bottle.

"Great job and think about the toaster thing." He walked off to one of the studios and Vanessa sighed and sat on the ground.

"Something bothering you, Ness?" Lucas asked and Vanessa startled and gasped.

"Sorry, I thought you knew I was here." Lucas said apologetically.

"No, it's okay. I forgot you were here." Vanessa got up and sat down next to him on the table.

"Am I that forgettable?" Lucas asked jokingly.

"No, of course not, I just-" She broke off when she saw Lucas grinning at her.

"Oh my God!" She shoved him in the shoulder and he bumped her back lightly.

"So, you don't want to rise up like the Great Pumpkin?"

"NO!" Vanessa groaned.

"Why not?"

"It sounds dangerous." She lied. Lucas just raised his eyebrows at her.

"Okay, okay! I don't want to be the diva!" She pouted.

"Vanessa, we're not calling you a diva. We're trying to give indivuality to each performance. Ashley's walking up with steam, Corbin's springing up, Monique is running down the ramp, I think Drew's walking up and dancing with the mic stand and you're going to roll up. Unless you want us to parachute you in, there aren't many other options." Lucas tried to ease the younger girl.

Vanessa was silent for awhile, "I guess that makes sense."

"And it's not dangerous." Lucas added, "It looks like fun, actually."

"Okay, you're right. I overreacted, huh?"

"Just a little." Lucas shrugged, "I don't think Chucky blames you, it's okay."

"Thanks for calming me down, Lucas." Vanessa hugged him quickly then leaned against the wall.

"Here, help me introduce you." He shifted closer to her so she could read the paper he'd been scribbling on.

"You should do the intro from 'Come Back to Me!'" Vanessa giggled.

Lucas rolled his eyes at her, "I don't think I can pull off that deep voice thing, sorry."

"When do I go on?"

"After Ashley and I do 'What I've Been Looking For.'"

"Uh…Just be normal and be like 'Last but certainly not least, we have a girl who…has…brown hair…?'" Vanessa tried.

Lucas snorted again and apologized for being rude.

"I guess this is why you're the emcee and I'm just a performer." Vanessa laughed at herself.

"Eh, good try anyway. How about 'Now, we have one more performance to show you. I think you all know her, she plays Gabriella in High School Musical! She has an album out that's so hot, you gotta drop it when you pick it up! She's the one, the only, Vanessa Hudgens! Baby V!'"

"Wow…You're really good at this…"

"Not really, I've just had a lot more practice than you have." Lucas blushed anyway and Vanessa grinned at him.

"You didn't really need my help, did you?"

"Uh no." Lucas admitted, "But I felt bad so I asked anyway."

"Well, at least you're honest." Vanessa sighed.

"'Honesty's the best policy!'" Lucas intoned and Vanessa laughed again.

"I wonder what the others are doing…" Lucas mused.

"So we've done 'Push It to the Limit?'" Jared double checked.

"Yeah, you know it?"

"Yeah, Sterling and Nick showed me last night and we all showed it to Chucky." Jared replied, smiling at Corbin, "So we have to do 'Marching?'"

"Yeah! I love 'Marching!'" Corbin cheered.

"Okay…" Jared sat down to think while Tia, Tyne and Kym danced around with Nick and Sterling.

Just then, a young girl with reddish brown hair came in and cleared her throat, "Um, excuse me…Is this where the dancers are meeting?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yes…Who are you?" Jared asked, walking towards her.

"Aubree!" Sterling yelled, launching forward and hugging her tightly. "STERLING!" Aubree shouted back, hugging him as well.

"Uh, hi Aubree?" Jared tried.

Aubree disentangled herself from one of her co-hosts and turned to Jared, "Hi, I'm Aubree. I'm sorry I'm late but I had a segment to film when you guys started."

"Hey Aubree, I'm Jared. It's okay, we were just going to start choreographing Corbin's song 'Marching.'"

"Okay, cool." Aubree greeted the others, whom she had met during the dancer auditions.

"Well, how about you dance by yourself then run up the ramp that Chucky told us about and we all can join you for the part where we all march in those dumb outfits they're making?"

"Sure…" "So, why don't you just do what feels right?" The dancers all sat down and Corbin began dancing to the song.

During the sneaker line, he kicked up his leg and pulled his hands up from his feet to his knees. Then he spun around and winked at Tia, "And I'm ready to burn…" He fanned himself.

Corbin began jumped and throwing his arms around, pretending to pump up the crowd. Corbin danced backwards, pretending to go up the ramp and began drumming on the 'railing.'

"This is where we'd come in." Jared said to the dancers so they all got up and Corbin led them 'down the ramp.'

"Okay, how about you stand in the middle and we all form around you?" Tia asked.

"Yeah, great idea!" Corbin flashed her a brilliant smile and she grinned at him. They paired into twos and began marching around him, making an almost flower shape.

"Pretend you have drums!" Nick yelled so they all began drumming the air in front of them.

"Form a line on either side of him, guys." Jared instructed then they all turned and somehow ended up in a circle around Corbin.

"Corbin, hit our drums!" Sterling yelled to the afro-prone boy. Corbin began nodding his head and hitting the air in front of the dancers.

"Now back out to the lines and back up in formation." Tyne suggested so they all were uneven behind him.

"Pick a pose!" Kym panted to Corbin who hit a strange on the ground pose at the end of the song.

"Yeah, like that but more uniform." Jared was breathing hard as he wrote all of it down on his clipboard.

"Do it again and let's see if we can clean it up." Almost an hour later, they had made the uneven lines more in order rather than willy-nilly. They had also dug up a baton for Corbin to spin and use for his ending pose, which Jared made him stand up for rather then fall to the ground.

"Awesome job, guys!" Corbin hugged the girls and patted the guys manly on the back.

"Let's call it a day, folks." Jared led them all back to the main hall but Corbin hung back to talk to Tia.

"So, you dance?" He started lamely.

"Uh, yeah?" Tia laughed at him.

"Right, that was dumb."

"I like your songs."

"I like your hair." Corbin blurted and she laughed again.

"Are you always this awkward?" She teased, trying to figure out where this new found confidence was coming from.

"Only around pretty girls." Corbin winked at her then decided to keep from embarrassing himself by walking over to Lucas and Vanessa.

Ashley and Kenny walked in from the opposite direction and Chucky came back from wherever he'd been.

"So, how did this round go?" Kenny asked, addressing all of them.

"Wait, where's Drew and Mo?" Ashley asked, looking around for the missing two.

"Are they still working?" Vanessa suggested.

"Well, it's time for lunch so can we find them and bring them back?" Kenny asked good naturedly.

Corbin, Ashley, Vanessa and Jared split up and began trying to find the older couple. Ashley checked the bathrooms and closets; Corbin looked outside and Jared and Vanessa systematically went through all of the studio rooms.

"Hey, this door won't open!" Vanessa called to Jared. The brown haired dancer walked to her and tried the door knob then knocked on the door, "Monique? Drew? You guys in there?" He asked loudly but there was no answer.

Jared knocked louder but there was still no answer so he turned the knob and rammed the door a few times until it flew open and he fell in, practically landing on a sleeping Monique.

"Awwwwwwwww! That's so cute!" Vanessa squealed. Monique was curled up on Drew's chest, fast asleep; Drew had his arms around Monique and was sleeping as well.

"Yeah, real cute." Jared muttered, pulling himself up then lightly shaking Monique.

She groaned and swatted at him irritably.

"MoMo…" Vanessa came over next to her and shook her as well. "Five more minutes…" She mumbled.

Vanessa sighed and shook Drew, who also swatted at her, "Go away!"

"Fine, you leave me no choice." Vanessa took a deep breath then glanced at Jared, "You might want to cover your ears."

Jared quickly covered his ears, looking apprehensive.

Vanessa breathed in again and when she opened her mouth, let out a blood curdling scream that sent everyone from the main room running and Monique and Drew jolting awake.

Ashley arrived first and tackled Jared, "What did you do to Vanessa?!" She shouted in his face.

Corbin rushed to Vanessa's side, "Are you okay, Ness?!" He panted. Monique and Drew rubbed their eyes then grabbed Vanessa as well, "Are you alright?! What happened?!" They asked, looking much disoriented.

"Ashley get off of Jared!" Vanessa yelled, ignoring the three around her.

Larry stepped forward and lifted Ashley up, who fought against him, "Let me at him! Let me at him! If you hurt Vanessa I swear to God-"

"ASHLEY!" Vanessa shouted and Ashley shut up, "I'm okay." Ashley went limp in Larry's arms.

"You mean you weren't raped?" Vanessa shook her head, "You weren't smothered, you aren't drowning, and you didn't hurt yourself?" Again, Vanessa shook her head.

"GAH!" Ashley screamed in frustration and Larry dropped her while everyone behind them laughed.

"Then why the hell did you scream so loud?!" Corbin asked exasperatedly.

"I had to wake them up!" Nessa pointed to Drew and Monique, who looked sheepish.

Ashley turned to Jared, blushing bright red, "I am so sorry, Jared. Honestly, I don't know what came over me…"

"It's okay, it didn't hurt…that much." Jared winced as he sat up.

"Come on, everyone, to the main room." Kenny moved them all back to the main meeting room. "So, all drama and sleeping aside, I take it everything went well?" He asked again and everyone nodded. "So, go have lunch, come back in an hour and we'll start group rehearsal. Okay?"

They all agreed and broke off for lunch.

"Way to be a mad woman." Lucas remarked to Ashley as they sat on that stupid table and ate sandwiches.

"Oh shut up, Lucas." Ashley groaned, "I feel bad enough."

"It was pretty funny, though." Corbin pointed out.

"No it wasn't! I feel terrible!"

"Jared didn't mind!" Monique comforted.

"Way to fall asleep on the job, Mo." Corbin laughed at her and she glared at him.

"Shut up, Corbin." She muttered.

Drew rolled his eyes at both of them and ate a few of Monique's chips when she wasn't looking.

"I saw that." Monique muttered as she talked to Ashley and Drew grinned and ate more so she slapped his hand.

"Vanessa's really getting along with Jared, huh?" Corbin commented, pointing to where Vanessa and Jared were sitting, eating together.

"Oh, you have no idea." Monique and Ashley said simultaneously and burst out laughed.

"Do you ever feel like you missed something?" Drew asked and Lucas nodded, "All the time."

**Sorry for not updating! My dog was in and out of the hospital last week and I wasn't home for a few days then when I started typing this, my family kept calling me away every 2 minutes so it took forever to type this chapter!!! Sorry, this one's another long one but it's not nearly as good as the last one, at least not in my opinion. Thank you so much for the reviews! I think I have a little over 80 and only with the first 7 chapters! Wow! I love it! Thank you guys 2 thousand root beer bottle caps! (ew…) Oh and be on the look out, I'm starting a new story and it's going to be a Lucnessa! I just can't decide on the other pairings so let me know what you want! Thanks again! XOXO**


	8. Chapter 8

"5, 6, 7, 8!" Kenny shouted over the chords of 'We're All in This Together.' The cast plus the dancers minus Lucas began doing the final chorus of the finale, all singing along at the top of their lungs. "Wildcats everywhere, wave your hands up in the air! That's the way we do it, let's get to it, come on everyone!" And they all posed with their fists in the air.

Kenny and Lucas clapped loudly while everyone collapsed on the ground and opened their trusty water bottles. "That looked awesome you guys! So, let's do that again!"

Everyone groaned and refused to move.

"Please, just one more time! The last time then you can take a quick break and relax!" Kenny begged.

They all begrudgingly stood up and took their places as Kenny started the song on the CD player again. The band members were allowed to go home for the day since it was almost 5 o'clock. Lucas sat on the floor with his leg stretched out in front of him, his eyes closed and his head titled back on the table he was leaning against. "We're all here and speaking out of one voice; we're gonna rock the house, yeah, yeah! The party's on, now everybody make some noise! Come on, scream and shout!" He sang without opening his eyes and everyone laughed at him.

"We've arrived because we stuck together, champions one and all!" Ashley sang then they started dancing again. They finished the number and collapsed once again.

"Could we-" "NO!" Everyone shouted together and Kenny shook his head and laughed, "Okay, okay! Go ahead and rest for a few minutes!" Ashley fell down next to Lucas and rested her head on his shoulder tiredly.

Lucas grinned at her, "Should we rename you Sleepy?" Ashley groaned incoherently at him. "Okay, fine, Grumpy it is! Ow, whatcha hit me for?!" Ashley giggled and Lucas rolled his eyes at her. "You're scary when you're tired."

"Hey Lucas." Ashley suddenly looked very awake.

"Yeah…" Lucas was a little scared.

"What do you think of Jared and Vanessa?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like Jared and Vanessa together…Janessa."

"Okay, two problems with that: 1. Janessa sounds stupid and 2. Vanessa is dating Zac, remember?"

"Luuuuuuuucas!" Ashley whined at him, "Zanessa sounds stupid too but people use it anyway and le duh they're dating! But have you seen Zac around lately?"

"So if I was off filming a movie in Canada and you were on tour with the cast, you would start flirting with another guy?" Lucas raised his eyebrows at her.

"No, no, no, no! I would never do that!" Ashley looked horrified.

"So you're saying that you wouldn't but Vanessa would?"

"Ugh! You screw up all of my fun facts!" Ashley pouted at him but started laughing anyway. Lucas chuckled and shook his head, "Ash, just let it be. Don't get involved like you did with the plan to hook Zac and Vanessa up during the movie. Remember, Operation: Let's put as many words as we can into the title so no one can say it in one breath?"

It was Ashley's turn to roll her eyes at Lucas, "I wasn't going to get involved!" She lied, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Suuuuure you weren't." Lucas teased and Ashley lightly shoved his shoulder.

"Alright guys, back to work!" Kenny yelled, walking over to Ashley and helping her up. "Let's start from the beginning, okay?" They all agreed and the dancers dispersed so the main 5 could stand evenly spaced. Kenny sat down and played the piano for them as they song through their opening number while Tia, Tyne, Kym and Aubree sat down with Lucas.

"Hey ladies, I'm Lucas." He greeted.

"Hi Lucas." The girls smiled and introduced themselves.

"Why aren't you dancing with everyone else?" Aubree asked as they watched the others rehearsing.

"Oh, I had a minor surgery on my knee and Kenny won't let me dance for another few days." Lucas explained, hoping they wouldn't make a big deal of it. Not so much on that hope.

"Oh my God!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Are you alright?!"

"What happened?!"

"Uh…In order of your exclamations: Yup, yup, yes, and touch football got the better of me."

"Wow…"

"You're so dedicated!"

"That's amazing."

"I would never be able to do that…"

Lucas blushed, "It's not a big deal." He shrugged and they all sighed. The opening song ended and they all clapped again. "That sounded so good! You guys are so on today!! Alright, 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You,' then you may go home." They all groaned then cheered as he hit play on the CD.

"For this number, Drew and Vanessa in the middle, um, Ashley on that side of Drew, Lucas, you can go next to Vanessa when you've recovered. Monique next to Lucas and Corbin next to Ashley." He instructed over the music and they all, minus Lucas, scrambled to their spots.

Lucas cleared his throat from his spot on the floor, "Yeah we gotta good thing going on."

"Oh! Right here is right where we belong!" Ashley shook her hips and Lucas grinned as they sang together, "You never really know what you might find now all I," Ashley dropped out, "See," she joined back in, "Is you and I! You're everything I never knew, what I've been looking for!"

Lucas dropped out for the last part then joined her again for the chorus. Lucas sang back up as they neared the end of the song, "I can't take my eyes off of you (oh, oh!) feelings like I never knew (I never knew, never, never knew) I can't take my eyes off of you (I can't take my eyes…) From the start, got my heart, yeah you do, can't take my eyes off of you!"

"You are such a good singer!" Kym exclaimed to Lucas after the song ended.

Lucas blushed again, "No, not really but thank you."

"Seriously, those vocals were awesome!" Tyne jumped in.

"Yeah, he's pretty amazing like that." Ashley laughed, swinging an arm around Lucas' shoulder.

"You are so lucky!" Aubree told Ashley as they all were walking out.

"See you tomorrow, great effort today!" Kenny yelled to them as they went out the door. The dancers got in their own cars to go back to their hotels or houses while the main six clambered back into the truck so Larry could drive them to their hotel. They were all too tired to really talk on the ride home and when they got upstairs, the girls collapsed on their couches.

The boys went into their own suite to shower and change while the girls did a half-hearted round of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would get the bathroom first. Ashley won so she dragged herself into the large bathroom and quickly got in the shower, letting the hot water soothe her tired muscles.

Meanwhile, Monique was sitting up on her end of the couch with her feet propped on a foot rest while Vanessa was lying across the couch with her legs in Monique's lap.

"So Nessa," Monique started casually, "How's Zac?"

"Uh…Good, I think…" Vanessa answered, wracking her brain for the last time she talked to him.

"You think?" Monique teased.

"Well, he hasn't really called me for a few days and I don't want to bug him while he's working." Vanessa shrugged, hoping Monique would go away soon.

"Oh…" Monique nodded and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, "So, how's Jared?"

"Huh?" Vanessa asked, looking back over at Monique.

"I said 'how's Jared?'" Monique repeated patiently.

"Oh, um, okay, I guess."

"You spent all day with him." Monique pointed out.

"Yeah, well, we didn't really have time to chit chat. I'm gonna go see if Ashley's done." Vanessa got up quickly and rushed down the hall, brushing past a towel clad and dripping Ashley.

"The showers free." She called to Vanessa, who shut her door. Ashley shrugged and went into her room to get dressed. When she came out, the bathroom door was shut and Vanessa was singing in the shower.

Ashley furrowed her brow and walked into the living room, finding Monique lying down on the couch now with a hand over her eyes. Ashley crossed the room to the couch and lifted Monique's legs and sat down then put the young woman's legs over her lap.

"Hey you." Monique greeted, lifting the hand and looking at Ashley.

"Hey MoMo, what's up with V?"

"Gah, I don't know…" Monique groaned, placing the hand over her face again, "I asked her how Zac was and she didn't really know then I asked how Jared was and she got weird and walked away."

"Odd." Ashley commented, biting her lip while she thought, "Maybe she's just tired." She offered.

"Yeah, I guess…" Monique sighed. They heard the shower turn off and Monique rolled off the couch and went into the bathroom. Vanessa came out a few minutes later, looking calm and happy as usual.

"Hey Ash, are we gonna order room service or what?" She asked as she walked into the living room.

"Uh, sure…Let's see if the boys want to join us." Ashley grabbed her cell out of her purse on the counter and texted Lucas _**Want to come over?**_ She waited and his response came about 5 minutes later _**Sure, we'll be right over**_

Moments later, a knock came at the door and Ashley skipped over and opened it. Corbin, Drew, Marc and Lucas were standing in the hall, grinning at her.

"Well, come on in." She stepped back so they could walk inside. Vanessa was sitting on the footrest, looking through the room service menu.

"Hey, are you guys hungry?" She asked, smiling at them. "You have to ask?" Drew teased, sitting on an arm chair by the window.

Monique came out in a towel, "Guys, order room serv-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She spotted the guys and ran back to her room, slamming the door.

Lucas, Marc and Corbin snorted and started laughing; Drew rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and laughed anyway; Vanessa and Ashley burst out laughing and had to stifle it into a pillow so Monique wouldn't yell at them. Monique came in, looking a little pink still and sat down next to Drew's chair.

"Nice to see you again, Mo." Corbin said solemnly. Monique grabbed a pillow and chucked it at Corbin's head.

"Kids these days," Lucas said in a grandpa voice, "Throwing things around like this was some zany baseball tournament."

Monique reached for another pillow but Drew held her arms behind her back.

"I think someone needs a time out." Marc chimed in and Monique glared at him then started laughing anyway.

Ashley and Vanessa were still pouring over the menu. "Guys, could we order, like, this century?!" Corbin asked, clutching his stomach as it growled at him relentlessly.

"Sor-ry!" They said in unison then started giggling. Ashley picked up the phone and dialed room service, "Hello, could I please have a chicken Caesar salad wrap," She handed the phone to Vanessa, "A turkey and lettuce sub," She handed it to Marc, "Cheese burger, medium rare," He tossed it to Lucas, "A BLT," Lucas threw it to Corbin, "A small buffalo, onion and pineapple pizza," "EEEEEEW!" Ashley and Vanessa squealed as Drew caught the phone and handed it to Monique, "A turkey and cheese wrap," Then she handed it back to Drew, "And a burger well done, please. Thank you." He hung up and tossed the phone to Ashley who screamed and fell over as the phone flew over her head.

Everyone started laughing and Marc reached over and pulled Ashley back up, "Thanks Marc-y!" She giggled and Marc groaned at the name.

Awhile later, they all were talking as they ate, discussing random tour things. Lucas was on the couch with his leg on the footrest with Ashley next to him who had her knees pulled up to her chest. Drew was in his chair with Monique leaning her back against the side of it so she was facing the middle of the room. Corbin and Marc were stretched out lazily on the ground and Vanessa was sitting in front of Lucas, leaning against his other leg.

Lucas was leaning forward, listening to the easy conversation his friends were upholding. He reached down and began rubbing Vanessa's neck since she looked tired.

Vanessa jumped and tilted her head back to look at him, "Uh…hi…"

"Hey." Lucas smiled at her, "I owe you a massage from the other night, don't I?"

"Aw, come on, Lucas!" Ashley hit him on the arm, "That's not a real massage!"

"I'm not lying Vanessa out on my bed and rubbing oil into her! That's Zac's job!" Lucas defended, going back to rubbing Vanessa's neck.

"Ew…" Monique, Drew, Corbin, Ashley and Marc shuddered in unison.

"Here, lie down on the couch and stretch across Lucas' stomach and he can actually get your shoulders." Ashley slid off the couch onto the floor. Vanessa and Lucas stared at her like she was crazy.

"You want me to put my head in _your_ boyfriends lap?!" She squeaked.

"No, here, let me show you." Ashley got back on the couch and got on her stomach. She crawled over Lucas' lap and rested her head and arms on the armrest so her neck and collarbone were suspended over Lucas' lap. "That way he can massage you without it being awkward." She intoned, getting off the couch again.

Vanessa reluctantly got on the couch and slowly crawled over Lucas' lap. Lucas cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles then brushed Vanessa's hair off her neck so it was hanging into his lap.

He began kneading her neck muscles slowly and Vanessa's eyes fluttered closed. Everyone else began talking again, deciding not to watch Lucas massage Vanessa. Lucas began moving down to her shoulders and pressed his thumbs into them to relieve the tension there. Vanessa sighed and tried not to fall asleep as Lucas ran his hands over her shoulders and neck, lightly rubbing out the kinks. He moved up and down her back, using his elbows to dig in deeper.

After about 45 minutes, Vanessa was half-asleep, Lucas' arms were tired and she was completely relaxed. Marc got up and pulled Vanessa up by the elbows then flipped her over, causing her to shriek.

He chuckled and lifted her up all the way, carrying her into her room and lying her down on her bed. Vanessa thanked him and crawled under the covers. Marc shut the door and walked back down the hall.

Now Ashley was rubbing Lucas' arms and Monique was asleep in Drew's lap.

"Thanks man." Lucas said to Marc.

"No problem, I decided to be helpful for once." They all laughed quietly and Drew gingerly got up, holding Monique in his arms. He carried her to her room and put her to bed then came back out.

"Wow, this is interesting…" Ashley laughed, looking around at all the boys.

"It's every girl's dream!" Corbin grinned and Ashley rolled her eyes at him, "It's not my dream!"

Lucas yawned as he slowly pulled his leg off the footrest and grabbed his cane so he could stand.

"We should get going guys; we have an early day tomorrow."

"Yeah…" Drew and Marc muttered, moving towards the door.

"Thanks for hanging with us tonight." Ashley whispered to them. Corbin got up and winked at Ashley then walked across the hall with the other two.

"That was really nice of you." She commented as Lucas slowly made his way toward the door.

"What was?" Lucas tilted his head.

"You know, relaxing Vanessa and all." Ashley reminded him.

"Oh…Well, I owed her."

"Yeah but I think she really needed it anyway and I don't think she expected you to do so much." Lucas shrugged and Ashley smiled and hugged him, kissing his cheek.

"See you in the morning, Luc." Ashley whispered into his ear.

"Sleep tight, Ash." Lucas kissed her quickly then went across to his room and shut the door.

Ashley stood in the living room for a few minutes, grinning to herself then shrugged and went into her own room to finally get some rest.

**As always, SORRY! Lol, it's the end of the summer and the school bookstore (which my mother runs) is opening on Thursday so I have to work it and it's going to be like all this week and next week! And, as always, thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them! BTW: I'm nominated for a few different stories including WDCT and my new Ryella story Sick Inside (Check that out if you like Ryella and minor Troypay) so if you have the time, could you please vote for me if you can? I never win anything so, sadly, this is kind of a big deal for me! The link is in my profile! Thank you! Love ya two hundred marshmallows (yuck).**


	9. Chapter 9

The next two or so weeks flew by for the cast as they nailed all of the choreography and music to make their show amazing. Today was the first dress rehearsal and the crew and a few family members were going to be the audience. It was only about 7 in the morning and everyone was running around, trying to find their outfits.

Ashley, Monique and Vanessa were in the girl's quick change room, talking loudly as they got dressed. "Ew, what's up with my outfit?" Ashley grimaced at the weird lacy things under the short plaid skirt.

"It's like a school girl outfit." Vanessa laughed while Monique tried not to, "It shows off your cute legs." She pointed out.

"The socks don't even match!" Ashley groaned as she pulled the black and red argyle socks up her calves.

"No one will be looking at your socks, hon." Monique comforted. Ashley began digging through the rack for her shirt and groaned again.

"What now?!" Monique asked wearily, spinning around from her rack.

Ashley had the loose white tank top on, "They make my boobs look saggy!"

"This is Disney and in Disney, girls aren't supposed to have boobs." Vanessa intoned from behind her rack as she changed into her own outfit.

"But still!" Ashley protested. "Here, wear this sweater over it." Monique tossed her a cute black sweater that Ashley gladly pulled on. "Can I get my own outfit on now?" Monique sighed and turned around again.

"What do you guys think?" Vanessa walked around the rack into the center of the room, modeling her white Capri pants and red, sparkly tank top.

"Why do you get a normal outfit?!" Ashley demanded. Vanessa shrugged and looked at herself in the mirror. Just then, Tia walked in, "V, here's the rest of your outfit." She tossed her what looked like a tent and smiled then walked out.

"What _is_ this?" Vanessa laughed, adjusting it and realizing it was a dress with red mesh under it. It had bathrobe ties around the middle and was long sleeved. Vanessa pulled it on and stared at herself, "I look like a Wildcat cupcake." She commented and Ashley burst out laughing. "At least you don't look like a Catholic School girl."

Monique came out in black leggings, a red skirt, white button down shirt and a tight black vest.

"Oh my God, that's so cute!" Ashley and Vanessa exclaimed simultaneously. "Really? I thought I kinda looked like Count Dracula's mistress." Monique moved in front of the mirror with them and tilted her head. "No, you look adorable!"

Vanessa, Ashley and Monique pulled on their shoes and walked into the main hallway where the boys were waiting. Drew had on fake jeans, a red and white long sleeve shirt and was holding a red sport jacket. He grinned at Monique and checked her out, "Hot." He commented, spinning her around and kissing her hair.

"You really think so?" Monique blushed. "I know so." He winked at her and she shoved him for being corny.

"V…what are you wearing?" Corbin asked, leaning down and fingering the mesh on the bottom of the dress.

"I think it's a fishing net but I'm not sure." Chucky, who was walking by talking into an ear piece, paused and looked them over. "Vanessa, you're going to take the dress off after Start of Something New and then you'll be in the other outfit for the next three songs." He informed her then kept walking. "Oh…Thanks." She called after him but he'd disappeared.

"Corbin, what are _you _wearing?" Ashley asked, taking in Corbin's black sweat pants and red shirt. "It's sporty." He defended, adjusting his necklace, "And I wear this over it." He pulled on a matching black and red sport jacket.

Lucas wordlessly grabbed Ashley's arm and spun her around so he could look at her outfit, "Are you Ashley Tisdale or Maddie Fitzpatrick?"

"Oh ha ha, very funny." Ashley muttered as everyone else burst out laughing.

"Nice hat." Monique commented to Lucas. He adjusted the white hat on his head and looked down at his white and red checkered shirt and red pants.

"Thanks." He grinned.

"You guys ready?" Chucky walked past them again. "Yeah!" They all yelled. "Okay, let's go then!" Chucky led them up from the hallway to the main backstage area where all the dancers were jumping around and warming up. Chucky and Tia handed out microphones and the cast took their places on either side of the main staircase. They listened to the intro they had recorded weeks ago and danced around, trying not to be nervous.

Drew waved at all of them then walked up the staircase slowly, singing the opening lines of Start of Something New. Vanessa took a deep breath and the others gave her a thumbs up as she followed Drew, singing her lines. Monique and Lucas gestured for Ashley and Corbin to walk ahead of them then they followed behind.

As soon as they hit the stage, all nerves disappeared and the two pairs separated and walked forward amidst the steam. They did the signature HSM jump and the steam things exploded with sparks as the crew and family members jumped to their feet and screamed.

"San Diego say 'hello!'" Lucas shouted into his mic before spinning to one side of the stage and pumping up the audience. They sang the song and did another jump; Vanessa did a huge kick because she felt so wobbly on her 3 inch heels and didn't want to fall during their first rehearsal.

They finished with Lucas leading them in a circle and bowing for everyone. "High School Musical is here!" Lucas yelled while the cast cheered and the small crowd went wild. The cast scattered around as the band played the opening chords of Status Quo and Jared and Chucky rolled a table onto the stage and drummed on it. The other dancers did gymnastics and break dancing moves as they hit their places and Tia and Aubree helped Vanessa pull her dress off and throw it off stage.

Lucas and Ashley disappeared off stage, drinking water and calming down. "This is so much fun!" She gushed to Lucas as they navigated from below stage to where the top of the ramp was.

"I know!" Lucas agreed happily, dropping his voice so the mics wouldn't pick them up.

"We should do this more often."

"Ashley, we're about to start doing it every day for two months, I wouldn't worry about that." Lucas chuckled. The band members motioned for them to be quiet so Lucas and Ashley stifled their laughter and danced to the music until they both calmed down and stormed onto the top of the ramp.

"This is not what I want, this is not what I planned and I just gotta say 'I do not understand!' Something is really-"

"Something's not right!"

"Really wrong! And we gotta get things back where they belong!" Ashley nearly fell over when she heard the screams as she started singing but quickly recovered, "We can do it! We can do it! We can do it! Everybody quiet!" Ashley and Lucas paused as the music stopped then started again. Ashley narrowed her eyes and looked around some more before the two blondes began slowly strutting down the ramp, trying not to speed so they wouldn't be early.

As soon as they got to the stage, they began dancing with the others, ending up on the table. Drew stood up in the back, Ashley sat at his feet, Vanessa sat next to Ashley, facing the audience. Monique was on the other side of Ashley, Corbin was behind Monique and Lucas was in the middle. The audience went crazy as they held the pose then relaxed. Lucas jumped to his feet and began the introductions for everyone, doing exactly as they had originally planned a few weeks ago.

Jared and Chucky ran on again, pulling the table away as Lucas, Corbin, Drew, Ashley, Vanessa and Monique ran to the top of the stairs and dragged their mic stands up the center stage.

"You never know what you're gonna feel, oh, you never see it coming, suddenly it's real." Drew sang as the girls in the audience swooned.

"Oh, never even crossed my mind, no, that I would ever end up here tonight." Vanessa sang back. "Oh, all things change, when you don't expect them to." Drew pulled his mic stand over so he was facing the brunette, "Yeah." Vanessa did the same, "Oh!" "No one knows what the futures gonna bring."

"I never even noticed that you've been there all along!" Lucas sang. The cast started clapping to the chorus then Drew and Vanessa grabbed their mics and spun away, waving and dancing as they switched with Ashley and Lucas.

"Yeah we gotta good thing going on."

"Oh! Right here is right where we belong." Ashley sang, shaking her hips to the music. "You never really know what you might find, now all I," "See," Ashley and Lucas faced each other and pretended to sing to one another "Is you and I, you're everything I never knew, what I've been looking for!" They began clapping again, and then Lucas jumped in front of everyone with his mic for his solo. He did some random footloose moves on his way back to his stand as

Vanessa and Drew stepped forward for their second part. The rest of the cast abandoned their mic stands and stood upstage, pairing off quickly. Vanessa and Lucas spun around and shimmied at each other while Drew knelt down in front of Ashley and she pulled him back up. Corbin grabbed Monique and spun her then caught her and let her go.

Lucas began singing back up vocals while everyone moved around the stage, rearranging themselves. "I can't take my eyes!" He sang at the top of his lungs. "From the start, got my heart, yeah you do, can't take my eyes off of you!" They all moved to their stands and posed with them again, holding it for a few seconds then jumping up.

"Thank you very much, San Diego!" Lucas yelled, grabbing his and Vanessa's mic stands and pulling them off after the other four. Vanessa stood in center stage and waved as When There was Me and You began playing. Meanwhile, everyone backstage was clapping and drinking water.

"Okay, Ashley and Lucas, you have this song to run down and change for Ashley's showcase." Chucky instructed as she shepherded the rest of the dancers to change into their Ashley outfits. The devious duo nodded and ran down the stairs, parting to go into different rooms.

Ashley threw off her other outfit and pulled on a pair of jean booty shorts, a black sport tank top and a tight blue sleeveless top over it. Then Tia helped her into her "feather duster skirt" (Corbin's name for it). Ashley pulled on her wrist things and tied her converse shoes then ran back up to the main stage.

Lucas was standing with Jared, watching Vanessa finish the song. He was wearing a pair of fake jeans, a floral shirt and a red plaid hat. "Lucas…Did you get dressed in the dark?" Ashley asked as she walked up to them. Lucas just glared at her and righted his hat.

"Okay, Luc, up you go!" Chucky instructed and the blonde boy ran to the opposite side entrance and ran on.

"Thanks guys!" Vanessa yelled, running off stage, tripping over her heels and falling down the stairs. Jared and Chucky lunged forward and caught her around the waist.

"Jeez Ness, never a dull moment with you, huh?" Jared teased, popping her back onto her feet. Vanessa blushed, "Nope!" Chucky just shook his head and let go of her.

"When I say 'Ashley' you say 'yeah!' Ashley, yeah! Ashley, yeah!" Lucas was heard in the background as Jared grinned at Vanessa and kissed her hand then turned back to the other dancers who were grouping around Ashley. Vanessa blushed darker and trotted down to the quick change room. Corbin, Monique and Drew were sitting in the main hallway, already changed for their next parts.

"You sounded great!" Monique grinned at her. "Thanks…" Vanessa murmured, skipping into the quick change room and pulled off her other outfit then slid into a light blue sparkly dress. She sat down with Drew and Corbin, who were wearing basketball outfits and with Monique, who was in a gold sparkly dancer outfit and a black sweatshirt for the time being.

"You okay?" Monique asked as Vanessa zoned out. "Huh?" She tilted her head at the young woman. "Oh never mind." Monique sighed.

On stage, Ashley was doing Headstrong when some of the steam blew up her skirt and she screamed in shock and fell over. Jared quickly grabbed her and hauled her to her feet as she continued the song. The boys lifted her up quickly and carried her while she sang then put her down and she skipped up the ramp, dancing on top of it as it creaked a little ominously under them.

They skipped back down and Jared vaulted over the side of the ramp while Nick swung under it. They ended in a pose and everyone applauded loudly.

While Chucky was handing her water, he leaned close to her, "Are you okay?" "Yeah." Ashley nodded and sipped it gratefully then handed it back and went through We'll Be Together. They did He Said, She Said with only a few minor problems such as Ashley laughing during the beginning of the song and Ashley stepping on Jared's foot hard causing him to yelp.

Lucas ran on and began interviewing Ashley. He sorta forgot what he was supposed to say so he made things up on the spot, "I actually have a favorite part of your performance."

"Oh you do?" Ashley went along with it.

"Yeah, it's during that last number you did, He Said, She Said. You know, all the dancers are behind you and the music's like da nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, da, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, da, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh, nuh," He danced spastically then popped up, "We don't need more of that he said, she said." He shook his hips like Ashley did and everyone burst out laughing, including Ashley. "We don't need more of the he said, she said." He did it again.

"Wow…" Ashley tried to stop laughing.

"That's my favorite part." Lucas finished.

"You're so good at it; you should do it with us!" "No, that's okay. But, do you name your hips 'he said' and 'she said?'" Ashley shook her head. He began acting out the he said, she said thing. Then he continued interviewing her and introduced Get'cha Head in the Game. The boys plus Kym did it easily then began kicking fake basketballs of the stage. Chucky and Corbin kicked themselves in the face in the process and Drew got stuck in his locker at the start of the song but other than that, it went fine.

Lucas ran on again and began complaining about how no one ever waited for him. Then he challenged a crew member's younger sister to a game of one on one.

Meanwhile, backstage, Jared and Monique were warming up with Drew ran around getting ready. He and Jared had changed so Drew was in pleather pants, a white button down shirt and a cream colored jacket; Jared was in dance pants and a black and white shirt.

"You'll be fine." Jared reassured a freaking out Monique. Drew kissed her on the cheek as he walked by, heading for the stage. Lucas introduced him then he waited through the musical interlude until he ran up the steps and started singing Dance with Me.

"I'm so nervous." Monique moaned.

"You'll do great, we've rehearsed a billion times and I'll be right next to you!" Jared soothed. Then she was led away by one of the stagehands to the top of the ramp. The musical interlude started and she began dancing slowly down the ramp while Drew looked up at her and sang.

Jared walked slowly up the steps and held out his arm to her. She reached the bottom of the ramp, took Jared's hand and pulled off the tail of her dress as they began dancing. The guitar solo screamed through the amp which began smoking slightly.

Monique had just been handed back to Jared when a loud explosion was heard! Everyone screamed and Jared grabbed Monique and pulled her down under him. Drew dove out of the way as sparks and smoke poured down on their heads. The amp had exploded and started a small fire. The guitarist and other band members grabbed fire extinguishers and put the fire out while Jared and Drew tried to calm down a shaken up Monique.

Kenny grabbed the mic and walked on stage, "Ladies and gentleman, it seems we are having some technical difficulties which shall be solved shortly. If you would remain in your seats and stay calm, the show will continue shortly." He handed the mic back to Drew and knelt down next to Monique, "It's okay, Mo. Everything's going to be fine." He stroked her hair then went up and began helping the crew find a new amp to use.

Monique slowly stood up and everyone applauded for her as she bowed then the three walked off stage. Ashley and Vanessa hugged Monique, who was still trembling from shock while Lucas and Corbin shook their heads. A singed looking Marc ran down from the ramp, looking very excited.

"Dude, I got the best pictures of that ever!" He cheered, holding out his camera so they could look at them. Everyone rolled their eyes but admired the pictures just the same.

"Okay, let's take it from where Monique comes in, please." Kenny yelled and they started again. This time, they finished the number easily and moved on to Corbin's songs.

When it came time for Corbin to spring up, the toaster wouldn't pop so he jumped harder, causing it to fire him way farther than it ever had before. Thankfully, Corbin landed on his feet and quickly continued with the dancers. The only other glitch for him was he got tangled in his jump rope square and almost fell over but saved himself quickly and finished the song.

Lucas came out in a conductor outfit and everyone began rolling on the floor laughing. He and Corbin talked for awhile then Drew and Vanessa walked out onto the top part of the ramp, where a nice burn mark still lay and began singing the reprise of What I've Been Looking For so Lucas could change into a lime green shirt and black pants with a black sparkly hat. Ashley came out in red shoes and a short zebra striped dress.

"We don't even match!" She laughed as they stood next to each other.

"I'm glad, I like green better than zebra." Lucas commented, earning a shove from Ashley. They walked onto the stage as Drew and Vanessa walked off the ramp and went through the number, substituting a few moves here and there so Lucas wouldn't hurt his knee.

Vanessa ran down the stairs and pulled on a gold, sparkly dress, 3 inch gold heels and gold mesh hand covers then ran back up the stairs. She followed Chucky down to where the toaster loader was and got on it nervously. Chucky squeezed her hand reassuringly and Jared came down as well. They weren't in Vanessa's first number because they had to help out with the toaster.

Lucas introduced Vanessa and Let's Dance began. The toaster rolled halfway up but stopped when Vanessa's head was level with the stage. Jared and Chucky kicked it but it wouldn't budge so Sterling and Nick reached down and pulled her up by the elbows right in time for her to start singing and shimmying around with them.

She skipped all over the place with Aubree and Tyne, up and down the ramp, all over the stage, thoroughly enjoying herself. She was sad when it ended because that meant she had to slow down for Say Ok.

She amused herself through that number by spinning around on the bars that were holding the ramp up then waited for Lucas to run on.

"Give it up for Vanessa everybody!" He shouted, appearing out of nowhere and causing her to jump.

"Hey Lucas!" She greeted, skipping over to him. He interviewed her quickly then introduced her for Come Back to Me. She ran down to the top of the stairs and waited for the dancers to join her then began dancing to the song and following the choreography that Chucky had set for her. She ended the number by skipping up the ramp and ending at the top with all the other dancers surrounding her.

Vanessa waved to the crowd and ran off the ramp then Lucas and Ashley ran on stage.

"Mucho gusto!" He shouted and turned to Ashley. "Aye que fabulosa!" She sang back, fanning herself. "Brrrrrrr, aye, aye, aye!"

"Arriba!" Lucas sang back.

"Quieres bellar?"

"Mirame." He responded.

"I believe in dreaming, shooting for the stars." She danced forward.

"Baby, to be number one, you've got to raise the bar." Lucas sang back. Behind the scenes, Vanessa hugged the dancers and grinned then changed into a red dress, bumping into Drew, who was still in his leather pants and white shirt.

"Great job, V."

"Thanks, you too!" She giggled. Monique and Corbin were in their finale outfits already and were acting out Bop to the Top. "We'll keep stepping up and we just won't stop."

"Stop. Till we reach the top! Bop to the top!" They finished and the crowd erupted in cheers. Ashley and Lucas bowed and walked off as Vanessa and Drew walked on.

Vanessa had tears in her eyes listening to Drew's sweet voice serenading her. "We're soaring, flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach." "If we're trying so we're breaking free." She tried not to choke. They began walking forward and singing as the crowd joined in with them.

"We're breaking free!" Drew sang and Vanessa grinned, "We're soaring!" "Flying!" "There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach! If we're trying, so we're breaking free!" "Yeah we're breaking free!" They continued singing until the reached the climax during which they held out the microphones and were giddy to hear the audience easily fill in for them.

The only problem they found was Drew's mic kept giving out so Vanessa sang his parts too and they finished the song. They quickly ran off, holding hands then the female dancers ran on and began dancing around. The male dancers soon joined them, drawing out the intro so Drew could change his shirt and shoes.

Lucas, Ashley, Monique, and Corbin were standing back stage, waiting to run on. Drew blew a kiss to Monique then ran on at the top of the ramp. Vanessa waved to her co-stars as she ran on at the bottom of the ramp and she and Drew skipped down to the main stage. Corbin and Monique ran in from opposite sides just in time to start the infamous We're All in This Together dance.

Everyone danced around and ducked down as Lucas ran up the stairs and shook his hips to pump them all up. He jumped as high as he could and was caught by the dancers, who only wobbled a little bit under his weight. Ashley quickly ran up the stairs and walked under her boyfriend as she sang then joined hands with Vanessa and ran up stage to start the dance again.

Lucas began talking again and Ashley and Vanessa started hip checking each other subtly behind some of the dancers. "Give it up for our awesome road crew!" Applause. "Give it up for our High School Musical band!" Give it up for Tia, Nick, Kym, Jared, Sterling, Aubree, Tyne and our choreographer Chucky Klapow!" More applause. "On behalf of Corbin, Vanessa, Ashley, Drew, Monique and myself, Lucas, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us tonight!" Very loud applause.

Ashley hip checked Vanessa a little too hard and she went flying into Sterling who caught her easily and put an arm around her casually. Ashley snickered behind her hands and Vanessa snorted while Monique rolled her eyes at them.

"Let's all say it one last time, ready? WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!" Lucas shouted the rest and they all started jumping up and down then did the final dance. The linked hands and bowed together then the dancers walked off stage while the main six stepped up and waved happily. They turned around and walked to the top of the stairs then turned again and waved some more, blowing kisses and saying thank you. Kenny signaled them off the stage and they started jumping up and down together.

"That was so amazing!" Ashley screamed.

"Oh my God!" Vanessa yelled. Monique linked arms with Corbin and began skipping around while Drew, Marc and Lucas jumped up and down and cheered.

"That was so awesome you guys! Really great job for all of you! But, we still have a lot of things to work out so, this afternoon, we're going to do it again without the audience and we'll have Jordan come and do her opening act then we'll do it all again!" Everyone cheered louder then went down and got changed, anxious for that afternoon to come when they could do it all over again.

**Yay! A 10 page chapter! Sorry if I messed up stuff or skipped things, I'm trying to move it along a bit more now that school's about to start (on Tuesday! Nooo!) Anyway, thank you so, so, so much for the reviews, kept them coming! I love you guys! Oh and check out my profile for a link to the fanfiction awards! And if you like Ryella, check out my newish story Sick Inside! Thanks again! XOXO!**


	10. Chapter 10

The cast spent the entire week doing dress rehearsals so by the time opening night came around, they would be completely prepared. But, between all of the hectic rehearsing, they were also packing up to leave home for about 2 months!

"I don't know, do you think this is enough?" Ashley asked, brushing her bangs off her face and surveying the piles of clothes on her bed. Jennifer, her sister, snorted, "Ashley, you're going for 2 _months_ not 2 _years_."

Ashley glared at her and continued going down her check list. "Socks, underwear, bras, jeans, sweatpants, sweatshirts, long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve shirts, tank tops, normal pants, skirt, sweater, dress…" She checked off.

"Why are you bringing skirts and dresses?" Jennifer laughed. "In case we go anywhere fancy and I need something last minute!" Ashley snapped. "Okay, okay…" Jennifer held up her hands in surrender as her younger sister turned back to the bed and continued the check list. "Tooth brush, make up remover, hair brush, elastics-"

"Ashley, there are enough elastics there to tie up a third world country!" Jennifer exclaimed. "You know my hair, it likes to snap them! Plus, Mo might need some too!" Ashley defended over her shoulder. Jennifer just shook her head and continued reading her magazine. "Anyway, facial cleanser, pore strips, razor and blades, shaving lotion, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, anti-frizz serum, nail clippers, nail file-"

You, my sweet sister, are the definition of 'pack rat.'" Ashley threw a pillow at Jennifer, who squealed but caught it anyway. "Deodorant, body spray, loofa, tweezers and make up." She finished.

"Yeah, no comment this time." Jennifer quipped.

"Monique and I are going food shopping later today so I think I have everything I need for now." Ashley began packing it into her suitcase. "Ha! It all fits in two!" Ashley cheered triumphantly. "How?!" Jennifer asked incredulously, "Did you shrink it or something?"

"Nope, I'm just better at packing than you!" Ashley teased and ducked as the pillow sailed towards her. Ashley's phone rang so she dove under the bed and pulled it out, "Hello?" She asked breathlessly, shaking the hair off her face.

"Hey Ash!" Vanessa said frantically, "Do you have a lot of stuff?" "Yeah, like, two suitcases." Ashley replied. "Oh, good, so I'm not the only one?"

"Definitely not. Why? How much stuff do you have?"

"Three suitcases because some of my sister's stuff went with mine then my mom has two, my sister has one plus the one of mine that she used, my dad has two and Shadow has a mini-one."

Ashley gasped, "I forgot to pack for Blondie! And wow, you have a lot of people!" "I know! I'm so annoyed; I don't get to ride with you guys!" Vanessa pouted. "It's not fair!" Ashley agreed, now sprinting around, trying to find all of Blondie's stuff.

"Well, I gotta jet, I'm off to shop with my mom for our bus." Vanessa sighed, "See you tonight!" "Yeah, bye V!" Ashley hung up, "Jennifer, help me find Blondie's stuff!" Ashley shrieked. Jennifer groaned and followed Ashley around, taking stuff from her sister's hands.

"Could you grab the mini-duffle from the attic, please?" Ashley asked, organizing Blondie's toys and deciding which ones to bring. "Sure." Jennifer left and came back with said duffle in her hands. "Thanks so much." Ashley began putting a few toys in then put Blondie's blanket and pillow set in followed by her favorite treats and food. She also threw in the food and water bowls then sat back on her heels, "Do you think that's everything?"

"You're forgetting the actual dog." Jennifer giggled. "I'm not putting Blondie in the suitcase, you goof!" Ashley laughed then whistled for her dog. Blondie came rocketing around the corner, "Oh, good girl! You wanna go for a trip with me?" Ashley scooped the dog into her arms and danced around with her. The dog barked at her and Ashley set her down then spun around a few times, making sure she had everything.

"Okay, I think I'm good." "Did you pack shoes?" Jennifer tilted her head. "SHOES!" Ashley shrieked, running to her closet and pulling out two pairs of sneakers, a pair of slippers, a few pairs of heels/boots and some flip flops.

"And a bathing suit?"

"Why would I need a bathing suit?" "Hotel pools, duh!"

"Oh, right!" Ashley pulled out two bathing suits. "Do you have feminine supplies?" "Wow, Jen, you're good at this!" Ashley stuffed all of it into her second suitcase. "Okay, is that everything?"

"I think so…And if not, you can always buy more." "True dat." Ashley nodded, "I think I'm all set!"

"When do you leave?" "Friday night, after our second performance." Ashley replied, sounding excited and nervous, "We're going to be here in California for a few days then we're actually going to leave and start the touring part." "Wow…Tomorrow's your first performance?" "Yeah, it's so amazing!" Ashley laughed and began pulling her bags down the stairs. "But we're getting everything on the bus tonight then we're all going out to eat with Kenny so we can discuss things and celebrate the eve of our tour!"

"Cool!" Jennifer helped her lug everything to the front door as Ashley's cell phone rang again. She flipped it open and found a text from Monique. **Are you packed?** It read. **Yeah, are you?** Ashley typed back and waited patiently for a response. **I've been packed since yesterday! Anyway, want to go shopping now?** Ashley laughed at her friend, **Sure!** Jennifer picked Blondie up and kissed the dog's head. **Kay, I'll be right over to pick you up** Ashley closed her phone,

"That was Mo, she's gonna come over and pick me up so we can go shopping now. Then I think we're gonna go to the busses so we can load up then, depending on the time, we'll be going to dinner."

"Okay." Jennifer sighed.

"What's up, Jen?" Ashley asked worriedly. "It's just, you're my baby sister and it's so weird to have _you_ leaving _me_." Jennifer had tears welling up in her eyes and she quickly turned away.

"Aw Jen…" Ashley turned her sister around and enveloped her in her arms, "You know I'll always be a phone call away. You can come visit whenever you want; I would've invited you but Lucas' sister and possibly Monique's mom are bunking with us so I couldn't ask to squeeze anyone else on."

"I know." Jennifer sniffed loudly, "I wouldn't want to be on tour with you the whole time. It's just, I'm gonna miss you, you know?"

"I know." Ashley shut her eyes and squeezed her sister tighter. "It's not really goodbye anyway, I mean, I'll be back here annoying you in, like, 2 months." Jennifer laughed and pulled away, wiping her face. Ashley wiped her eyes as well as a knock came at the door.

Ashley took a deep breath then opened the door and grinned at Monique, "That was fast."

"Honey, I only live 10 minutes away." Monique pointed out, "Oh, hey Jen! Are you alright?" She asked, taking in the puffy eyes. "Yeah, sorry, we were having a sister moment."

"Oh, sorry to interrupt!"

"No, its fine, we were just finishing it." Ashley laughed. "Yeah…I should get to work." Jennifer sighed and set Blondie down. "Okay, well, I'll be back tonight so we can talk and such." Ashley hugged her sister once more then watched her walk out to her car.

"So, ready to go?" Ashley turned to Monique. "Yeah, let's go!" Monique and Ashley piled into Monique's car and drove to the grocery store. While there, they bought cereal, bread, peanut butter and jelly, fruit, microwavable things, coffee, hot chocolate, and other necessities. They also picked up Advil, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Midol, ace bandages, band-aids, anti-septic stuff and icy-hot patches. The girls went to Target and picked up extra blankets and pillows for their beds. They also grabbed toilet paper, paper towels, bath towels and more movies and books.

"I think we're all set." Ashley panted as they finished loading up Monique's car. "Yeah, like, 3 thousand dollars later." Monique helped the blonde slam the trunk shut.

"At least we have everything and we killed off the afternoon!"

"We should head back and get ready for dinner tonight." Monique started her car. "Good idea." Ashley leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Don't you dare fall asleep." Monique lightly swatted Ashley's leg. "Why?" Ashley whined. "Because I am so not carrying you into your house." Monique giggled. "Fine." Ashley sat up and opened her eyes.

Monique dropped Ashley off at her house and Ashley quickly showered and changed into a black quarter-length tee and a black and white skirt. She was just finishing drying her hair and applying mascara when the doorbell rang and she sprinted down to answer it. Standing on her doorstep, hip-checking each other and laughed. "Hey girls!" Ashley greeted as she hugged them tightly then stepped back to admire their outfits.

Vanessa was wearing a casual red dress with black leggings underneath while Monique had on a gold tank top and black skirt. "You guys look awesome!" Ashley squealed. "You do too! I love that skirt!" Vanessa replied. They walked out to the car, where Larry had opened the doors for them. He helped them into the car then drove them to the restaurant while they chatted about the tour and the busses.

The guys were flopped lazily in the waiting area while David was telling a funny story about Corbin as a tot. "Then the instructor turned to Corbin and said 'Hey there, little girl, what's your name?'" The guys burst out laughing while

Corbin groaned and blushed, "Dad, did you have to tell them that?" "Don't you want your friends to know more about you?" "Yeah but not about the embarrassing stuff!"

"Hey ladies!" Kenny greeted.

"Hey Kenny!" They responded simultaneously. Lucas, Drew and Corbin sat up quickly, trying to be gentlemanly. "That was a little belated, boys." Larry laughed as the hostess came and led them to a table towards the back of the dining area.

Lucas and Ashley linked arms and stayed towards the back of the group, talking quietly as the moved through the restaurant. "Any word from Zac yet?" Ashley murmured so no one would over hear them.

"No, Ash, I'm not his keeper." Lucas teased. Ashley rolled her eyes at him, "But has he called you guys?"

"No, not yet. Has he called you guys?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't asked Nessa yet." Their conversation was cut off as they sat down at the table. Lucas sat across from Ashley and she quickly slipped off her shoes and slid her feet into his lap. Lucas' only response was a small smile as he opened his menu.

Monique sat across from Drew and they quickly became absorbed in one of those cutesy little conversations that smitten couples like to have. Corbin and Vanessa were left to sit across from each other and they began having a staring contest. Larry sat a few tables away, casually keeping an eye on them while he ordered his own meal. Kenny and David were talking about the good old days when music didn't involve back-up dancers.

Ashley reached across the table and adjusted the collar on Lucas' blue and white striped shirt. "Feel better now?" He laughed at her.

"Yeah, sorry, that was really bothering me."

"Hey Ash! Let's have a blast from the past and split something!" "Like what?" "Uh…I dunno, what do you want?" "Let's split a quesadilla!" "Good idea!" Lucas agreed.

The waitress came over and took their orders; the quesadilla for Lucas and Ashley, a garden salad for Monique, a burger for Drew, a club sandwich for Corbin, a chicken Caesar wrap for Vanessa, a BLT for Kenny and another burger for David. While they were waiting for their food, the conversation turned to the tour.

"So, are you guys excited for tomorrow?" Kenny asked and they all shouted their response, causing the manager to come over and ask them to please keep it down. "Great, because I am too! Now, tomorrow you're going to have your final rehearsal in the morning then tomorrow night, we kick it off with our first real show! After the show, you guys are gonna go back to your hotels for the night then the next morning, your going to move onto your busses and that night, you have another show then we're going to leave for our next destination!"

More cheers erupted from the cast and the manager gave them a warning look. "Are there any questions so far?" Kenny asked them.

"So, how's our schedule going to work?" Drew started.

"Well, it'll be kind of like this: You'll do a show then a meet and greet then get on the bus and drive to the next location. When we get to the hotel, no matter what time it is, we will get off and check in then sleep until we have to get up. Now, local press wants to do interviews so I'm guessing in the mornings, you'll be doing publicity things then we'll do sound checks and the show then it starts all over."

Monique raised her hand. "Yes Monique?" Kenny laughed. "Do we get breaks, like to sleep off the travel lag?"

"Yes, you'll do around maybe 4 or 5 shows then you'll get a day off to sleep and explore the city we're in. Or, if we have a day off and we're still riding on the bus, you'll get to sleep and regroup."

"That sounds reasonable." Lucas nodded. "Will we get other opportunities to explore where we are?" Ashley also raised her hand.

"It depends on how much time we have between when we arrive and when we have to start sound-checking. If we arrive very early, then yes, you may go out for a little while and look around. But if we're really pressed for time, I'm afraid you might just see the city from inside your busses."

"Can our dogs come into the venues with us?" Vanessa questioned as the food arrived and they began eating. "I'm not sure, V, I think it will depend on the venue. I'm sure some places will let you but I wouldn't count on all of them." Kenny replied then bit into his BLT.

"Will we have time to record our albums?" Corbin asked as he bit into a fry. "Yeah, will we be able to leave and finish our albums?" Ashley seconded while Lucas split their plate of quesadillas in half.

"Yes, on your days off, you can probably go record and do photo shoots but keep in mind, you may have to push back your release dates because you will not have a lot of time." Kenny warned.

"How much do you have left on your album, Ash?" Drew turned to the blonde.

"Not a lot, only a few more songs, plus the artwork and the promos and stuff." She shrugged and began eating her quesadilla.

"How about you Corbin?" Monique turned to the curly haired boy. "I have a lot left." He admitted, "And it's supposed to come out sometime between February and March."

"Wow, that's a lot." Vanessa marveled. "Gee, thanks for rubbing it in, Ness." Corbin flicked some water off his glass at her causing her to shriek and throw a crouton at him.

"Children." David said warningly, smiling just the same. "Sorry…" Vanessa and Corbin mumbled, going back to their food.

"Lucas, how's your knee feeling?" David called down the table to him and everyone turned to Lucas. "Okay," The blonde boy shrugged, "It's starting to feel better but it's pretty sore."

"I'm sure it is." Kenny nodded, "Lucas, if you need any rest time, let me know and I'll see what I can do." "No, I'll be okay." Lucas insisted, "I can work through it."

"That's cause he's "Mr. Go Get'em." Ashley winked at him and Lucas snorted, "Why do I get the weird names?"

"Because you're the weird one." Drew countered. "Oh, gee thanks, Drew!" Lucas rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Or because we love you so much!" Monique giggled. Everyone started laughing and Lucas shook his head and smiled.

"You guys want dessert?" Kenny offered after they'd finished eating. "Sure." Most of them nodded. "Aw, poor Lucas, he doesn't like dessert." Ashley pouted at him.

"You don't?!" Corbin and Drew exclaimed. "It's not that I don't like it, I just don't have a big sweet tooth." Lucas defended.

"It's okay, dear, you can split with me." Ashley comforted. "How can someone not like dessert?" Corbin mumbled and Vanessa kicked him under the table.

Lucas and Ashley ended up splitting a slice of cheese cake while Monique and Drew split some Boston Crème pie. Vanessa got strawberry short cake and Corbin got a huge brownie cake that he devoured half of in less than 2 minutes.

"That's disgusting." Vanessa shuddered, popping a strawberry into her mouth.

"No, it's delicious." Corbin corrected.

"Dude, bottomless pit, much?" Drew commented, feeding Monique a bite of cake off his fork.

"I am not a bottomless pit!" Corbin defended, finishing his cake. "Uh, yeah you are." They all responded at once and he pouted, "But you love me anyway, right?"

"That's questionable." Ashley muttered jokingly and Corbin gasped dramatically and threw his napkin at her. Ashley shrieked and threw the napkin back at him but Drew reached up and caught it before Corbin could do anything. "Aww…you ruined the fun!" Corbin and Ashley pouted at Drew and he laughed and put the napkin down. Corbin tried to steal it back but Drew slapped his hand away.

Kenny paid for their food as they all stood up. "Thanks Kenny." "Yeah, thanks man." They all told him as they walked to the cars.

"Anytime guys. So, I'll see you at our first venue at around 10 tomorrow so we can rehearse. You all have your stuff together and ready for the busses, right?"

"Yes." They nodded tiredly.

"Okay, I know I said we'd load them up tonight but there was a problem with one of them so we can do it tomorrow morning before rehearsal! Then we'll do our show and be all set to move onto them on Friday! Does that sound good?" "Yeah!" They all yelled.

"Great. Now, what team?" He asked excitedly. "Wildcats!" They shouted back, "Get'cha head in the game!" Then they piled into their cars before the passersby on the street figured out who they were.

**Yay, chapter 10! I'm sorry about not updating but school started and I think I can only manage to update one story a week and I have two stories going so yeah, sorry about that! Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews and support! Please keep it coming because it makes my day to get reviews! I love you guys! XOXO**


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